Playful photos of Bob Carey dressed in nothing but a pink tutu cheered up his wife Linda when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. So, the professional photographer began taking more of them in unexpected settings, and Linda began sharing them with other women undergoing treatment, making them laugh too.
Soon, it blossomed into The Tutu Project, a website of images of Bob prancing impishly for the camera from the Grand Canyon to the Golden Gate Bridge. He even appears with a ballet company performing Swan Lake. The couple set up The Carey Foundation and began selling Bob’s signed prints to raise money to help women with breast cancer meet expenses not covered by insurance, such as wigs, childcare and transportation to treatments.
Bob has also published “Ballerina,” a coffee table book of 61 of his tutu photographs, accompanied by the often humorous stories behind them, with net proceeds contributed directly to the foundation. In November 2015, as part of breast cancer awareness month, The Tutu Project launched the “#Dare2Tutu” campaign, with many individuals and groups donning pink tutus to raise money to support breast cancer patients.
“Bob’s photography captures the helpless feeling of ‘What can I do?’ when a loved one is suffering,” says nominator Page Hodel. “You feel you need to do something. I’m sure his wife Linda, as well as many others, have experienced comfort and joy from his photographs.”
