The Rafael Bernabeu Foundation strengthens its commitment to make the gynaecological cancer visible in the 4th Amateur Photography Contest #SentirQueMeQuieres (#FeelThatYouLoveMe)

With more than 200 images entered, the fourth edition of the photography contest dedicated to raising awareness of the disease crowned Ana González from Asturias with her work ‘C-Alba’. Second prize went to Deborah Gurrea from the Basque Country for her photograph ‘Una vida vívela’ (‘One life, live it’), while third prize went to Carmen Miguel Rubert from Castellón for her self-portrait ‘Las Primeras Veces’(‘The First Times’).

21 October 2024. The Rafael Bernabeu Foundation, responsible for articulating the social responsibility of Instituto Bernabeu, celebrates the #sentirquemequieres 4th edition, the amateur photography contest in October – a month dedicated to raising awareness of gynaecological cancer. An initiative that is already a national benchmark in the aim of integrating and normalising the disease in our society, offering the direct experiences and emotions of gynaecological cancer patients through their photographs.

Last Thursday 17th, in an moving afternoon, full of tribute and admiration for the protagonists, the awards and diplomas were presented to the finalists. The President of the Foundation, Sómnica Bernabeu, thanked all the participants for their invaluable involvement; ‘your photographs are an incalculable collective contribution to putting a face to the disease. They are images that take you where words cannot reach. They break down barriers, they shed light. They are healing. They are medicine for the soul’. ‘And they do so with beauty, because these images have been created from the soul. Transmitting real and authentic emotions: love, admiration, fears, goals to overcome – sometimes raw and indigestible experiences – but all necessary to offer light, support and normality to medical diagnoses’. ‘It is a great responsibility for our Foundation to give voice and eyes to your testimony and we will continue our efforts to raise consciousness, to make visible, to raise awareness, to prevent, to integrate’.

The first prize went to the photograph entitled ‘C-Alba’. An image full of optimism and the vitalist example of the honoree. Its author, Ana González, describes it as ‘Alba is energy, kindness and joy. Alba is a speech therapist, she has continued to work and has done so with colourful wigs. Alba has made this bitter pill easier for all of us who love her. Alba is love’.

‘One life, live it’ is the photograph by Deborah Gurrea that has won second prize. An image that offers the brave testimony of its two protagonists, ‘Two hearts beating in the same body with cancer. This photo was taken just after the birth of my second son, Marcos. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in the 33rd week of pregnancy, I had my first chemotherapy session with the baby inside me and then they had to induce labour in the 36th week of gestation’.

The third prize in this 4th edition went to Carmen Miguel Rubert with her photograph ‘Las Primeras Veces. Autoretrato’ (‘The First Times. Self-portrait’). Its author has tried to ‘transmit that hope that gives us strength when we begin the path of the fight against cancer. It shows us that there is a little light in the process despite the fact that the shadow of fear of the unknown continues to lurk. Undergoing such an aggressive treatment as chemotherapy is not easy to assimilate, but the drive to live makes us capable of coping in the best possible way, even if it’s hard, even if it hurts….

Self-portraits helped me to overcome the emotional blows and to express everything I couldn’t say in words. Art, in this case photography, has a therapeutic power that has helped me in the most difficult moments and to assimilate the reality and rawness of the disease. Sarcomas are rare tumours. There are hardly any lines of treatment and there is little research. I think it is necessary to make the patients who suffer from them more visible, as we are not just a statistic’.

These three award winners were among the following finalists in the 4th edition of the SentirQueMeQuieres contest.

• The young Mariola Almansa with her photograph ‘Bebiéndote la vida’ (‘Drinking Life’). An ode to the power of optimism in the face of illness: Smile as a necessary therapy.
• Zoraida López Escolano is a young activist dedicated to raising awareness of gynaecological cancer. Her photograph ‘Quise dar vida, y me la dió a mí’ (‘I wanted to give life, and it gave it to me’) is a reflection on the side effects of ovarian and uterine cancer, among which is the unfathomable pain of not being able to be a mother. 
• Paloma Mozo and Jose Carmona from Madrid signed the image ‘El espejo’ (‘The Mirror’). The jury valued the importance of offering – in the words of its author – ‘visual references, images of women who have already gone through the same thing, because naturalising something that unfortunately is becoming increasingly common helps those who are now beginning this process to face it’.
• From the Canary Islands, Tiby Medina and Yoana Martín have been finalists with their work entitled ‘Gracias por amarte’ (Thank you for loving yourself). An image that reflects that ‘when you feel proud of yourself, of your body and of your achievements, the affection that comes out of your eyes is more than admirable’.
• Alexandra Merino, with her photograph entitled ‘El cambio’ (‘The change’), brings us a reflection on the obstacles and the acceptance of the irremediable change faced by the oncology patient. In the words of her protagonist ‘The woman who has to change her hair, knows that she will change her life’.
• ‘Sentir que aún queda tiempo’ (‘Feeling that there is still time’) is the title of Patricia Laguardia’s finalist image.
• The photograph ‘¡Mamá te está saliendo el pelo!’ (‘Mummy your hair is coming out!’) by Isabel M. García González shows the importance of family and normalisation; its author describes ‘the joy of my 4 and 6 year old children one winter night at home, when they saw that I was finishing chemo in January 2024 and my hair was starting to grow. With this image I want to vindicate the necessary normality that oncology patients must have in our family and with our children, in my case I told each of my children what my illness was like, adapting the discourse to their age and this naturalness has helped me a lot in this process of recovery’.
• From the most tender intimacy, also Marta Carmena with her image entitled ‘Sentir Que Me Quieres’ (‘Feeling that you love me’), has risen as a finalist for her approach to family and affection, as an essential medicine for convalescence and recovery.
• Gabriella Barok from Tarifa, dedicates her photographic series to her godmother, an oncology patient. A powerfully sensorial bet to make the disease visible. ‘Lazo rosa’ (‘Pink ribbon’) was her finalist work.

Among more than 200 participating photographs full of emotion, reflection and experiences -all of them worthy of distinction-, it was very difficult to select the finalists for the jury of this 4th edition, which was made up of:

• Rocío Juliá. Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Alicante.
• Concepción Carratalá. Secretary of the Chair of Community Medicine and Reproductive Health of the Miguel Hernández University and Bernabeu Institute.
• APAMM, Alicante Association of Breast Cancer Patients, represented by Clara Burgos, Fini Coloma and Magui Pérez, Board of Directors.
• María Luisa García on behalf of Instituto Bernabeu.

All of them main personalities, also for their participation in the presentation of diplomas, awards and reception on behalf of the finalists who could not attend, along with Montse Angulo and Noelia Rodriguez, president and member of the Association of Nursing of Alicante.

An unforgettable afternoon that ended with a recital by the ‘Dúa da Pel’ group made up of the poetry of Eva Guillamón and the music of Sonia Megías, followed by catering in the gardens of the clinic, which was a meeting point for all those attending until late into the night.