Battling Breast Cancer as a family of photographers
- Text by Miss Rosen
- Photography by Jordan and Anna Rathkopf
After a two-year long distance relationship, photographers Jordan and Anna Rathkopf married at Brooklyn City Hall in 2007. Anna left her hometown of Prague just three days earlier, and was dazzled by it all. “It felt like a scene from a movie,” she remembers.
At the courthouse, the city clerk stood in front of a large American flag, and began the ceremony. “When we reached the part about [in sickness and in health]’, the clerk grew animated,” Jordan remembers. “She looked me straight in the eyes and said, ‘You better be good to her.’”
The two laughed in appreciation of Brooklyn’s finest making it plain, not knowing their fates would put this vow to the test in 2016 when Anna found a lump in her breast on her 37th birthday.
“We had just started talking about having a second child,” she remembers. “One day, we were discussing another baby, and the next day, I was hearing about my survival probability rates. I was young, with no family history, and suddenly, I was sitting in a doctor's office, being told I had an aggressive cancer. It felt like I was thrown into a black pit.”
The day after they got the diagnosis, Anna and Jordan picked up their cameras and set to work, their shared love of photography now a tool for survival. Together they embarked on a journey that would become their debut monograph, HER2: The Diagnosed, The Caregiver, and Their Son (Daylight Books).
HER2 is a love story in the most devotional sense, not just between husband and wife, but also between artist and audience. With global cancer rates rising 79% among people under 50 over the past 30 years, and the United States on track to set a record breaking 2 million new cancer cases this year, many are experiencing what Anna has lived, needing to feel seen, supported, and understood.
“The day after Anna’s diagnosis, we decided to document our experience,” Jordan says. “It made everything that mattered most in life suddenly clear. There were moments when the love I felt was so profound it was hard to put into words. It was a similar intensity to what I felt when I first held our son—a deep, pure love, unlike anything I’d experienced before.”
For Anna, every picture started to carry enormous meaning. “I worried that my son might not remember how much I loved him so I began creating memories for him and for Jordan,” she says. “At the same time, every time I looked in the mirror, I didn’t recognise myself. The photos began to serve as a stamp of reality. It was proof that this happening to me. It wasn’t just a nightmare.”
As they began to share their photographs, a powerful transformation took hold and what had been a lonely, terrifying journey through trauma began to heal through community, connection, and conversations that needed to be seen in order to be felt and heard.
Latest on Huck
Ideas were everything to David Lynch
Dreamweaver — On Thursday, January 16, one of the world’s greatest filmmakers passed away at the age of 78. To commemorate his legacy, we are publishing a feature exploring his singular creative vision and collaborative style online for the first time.
Written by: Daniel Dylan Wray
“The world always shuns”: Moonchild Sanelly on her new album, underground scenes and abortion rights
Huck’s January interview — Ahead of ‘Full Moon’, her most vulnerable project yet, we caught up with the South African pop star to hear about opening up in her music, confronting her past and her fears for women’s rights in 2025.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Krept & Konan are opening an “inclusive” supermarket
Saveways — With 15,000 sq. ft of space and produce from across the world, the store will cater to Black, Asian and ethnic communities in Croydon.
Written by: Isaac Muk
This erotic zine dismantles LGBTQ+ respectability politics
Zine Scene — Created by Megan Wallace and Jack Rowe, PULP is a new print publication that embraces the diverse and messy, yet pleasurable multitudes that sex and desire can take.
Written by: Isaac Muk
As Tbilisi’s famed nightclubs reawaken, a murky future awaits
Spaces Between the Beats — Since Georgia’s ruling party suspended plans for EU accession, protests have continued in the capital, with nightclubs shutting in solidarity. Victor Swezey reported on their New Year’s Eve reopening, finding a mix of anxiety, catharsis and defiance.
Written by: Victor Swezey
Los Angeles is burning: Rick Castro on fleeing his home once again
Braver New World — In 2020, the photographer fled the Bobcat Fire in San Bernardino to his East Hollywood home, sparking the inspiration for an unsettling photo series. Now, while preparing for its exhibition, he has had to leave once again, returning to the mountains.
Written by: Miss Rosen