1. I’m doing this to evolve with my new phase of beauty
2. I am letting go of all the trauma that has swept through my scalp
and face from the past 2 years, from my misdiagnosis when I started to
hide behind my braid, to the surgery to now.
3. I’m not hiding anymore! I am going to move strongly and confidently
through the world.
4. I am proud of my scar
5. I am proud of my face
6. I am already sick of rubbing Radiaplex into my hair
7. I am a badass
8. I can now get a skull tattoo.
-Alyssa Kitt
TO SMILE AGAIN (2023-Present)
NEW YORK, NY
Australian burlesque dancer Alyssa Kitt has adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare cancer that develops in the head and neck salivary glands. For two years, the cancer was misdiagnosed as Bell’s palsy. As Alyssa continued to lose feeling in her face and her ability to smile, she sought a second opinion. Finally, in spring 2023, she received an official diagnosis and treatment plan. Through journal entries and photographs, she has been documenting her experience from her initial misdiagnosis to her 15-hour surgery to remove the cancer from her face and through chemotherapy and radiation.
Part auto-ethnographic journal and photo essay, this intimate visual diary takes readers inside the cancer ward at New York University with Alyssa as she details seven weeks of radiation therapy following a radical nerve parotidectomy of the adenoid cystic carcinoma that robbed her of her ability to smile, wink, and dance with her face. Through photography and text, we document Alyssa getting her smile back.