No Hair Day

One fine day in 1998, Debbie Dorsey, Libby Levinson, and Carol Potoff, three women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, participated in a day-long photo shoot at the studio of portrait photographer Elsa Dorfman. Deciding to incorporate the photo session with previous footage that addressed some of the fears faced when Dorsey was diagnosed, she and her husband, cameraman Bob Burns, decided to record the photo session. It was a perfect setting. Watching the three women confront their baldness through photographs, cameras, and mirrors, we're struck by their courage facing this life-threatening disease, a condition that on first glance ought to transcend any other preoccupation. Instead, these women chose to celebrate their mortality by posing casually (sometimes in costumes and wigs) as a trio and alone, reminding us that just as baldness more sharply defines facial characteristics, confronting mortality seems to have the effect of more sharply defining life. “It's a seize-the-day kind of thing,” says Burns, and so it is: this celebration--a day of encouragement, laughter, and acceptance--illustrates the vital supportive role family and friends can play in confronting this devastating illness. Accompanying the photo session are brief interviews with Dorsey that underscore her fears and highlight some of the more sobering aspects of life with breast cancer, including a chronicle of her first chemotherapy sessions, choosing a prosthesis, and fitting a wig. As a coda, the program includes an uplifting reunion between the three women a year later. Enthusiastically recommended for hospital patient collections and health collections in public libraries. Aud: C, P. (A. Cantú)