No Hair Day

Last updated
No Hair Day
Directed byBob Burns
Produced byBob Burns
Starring
CinematographyBob Burns
Edited byBob Burns
Production
company
Cambridge Studios Inc.
Distributed by WGBH
Release date
  • 1999 (1999)
Running time
60 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

No Hair Day: Laughing (and Crying) Our Way Through Cancer is a 1999 documentary film about a photo-shoot of three women undergoing treatment for breast cancer, which was broadcast on PBS on October 10, 2001, as part of the Independent Lens series [1] and on WGBX-TV. [2]

Contents

Background

Bob Burns of Cambridge Studios in Boston, Massachusetts filmed portrait artist Elsa Dorfman on 12 March 1998 taking large format 20x24 Polaroid photos of his wife, Debbie Dorsey, along with Libby Levinson and Carol Potoff as they posed in "chemo chic". [3] The women had met in a breast cancer support group, and all had lost their hair to chemotherapy at the time. [4] The hour-long documentary was produced by WGBH-TV. [5] The photos and film were exhibited by the DeCordova Museum from September 2000 to January 2001. [6] [7] [8] A decade later, the photos will be on display at the Danforth Museum of Art in Framingham, MA from September 11 - November 6, 2011. [9]

Book

Dorfman released a book of the same name in 2004 featuring the photographs of the shoot. [10] [11] She has said of the shoot that "The pictures are so perfect. The subject was so touching. I don't think I will have another day like that." [12]

Cast

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References

  1. Silver, Joanne (22 September 2000). "Visual Arts; Boston in focus; DeCordova charts when photography came of age in Hub". Boston Herald. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  2. McQuaid, Cate (5 February 2000). "Honoring the bald and the beautiful". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  3. McQuaid, Cate (10 April 1998). "Elsa Dorfman: 'Affection and connection' photographer lets subjects celebrate themselves and their Achilles' heels". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  4. Stanley, Alessandra. "No Hair Day". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  5. Widman, Denise (October 2000). "Denise DiIanni: Executive Producer of Local Productions for WGBH". Imagine News. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  6. "No Hair Day: Photographs by Elsa Dorfman, Film by Bob Burns". DeCordova Museum. 20 July 2000. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  7. Temin, Christine (18 October 2000). "The show goes on at open studios". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  8. Smith, Adam (16 September 2000). "Weekending; South End artists invite you into their hearts, minds". Boston Herald. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  9. "Danforth gets people talking about art and healing" . Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  10. Stossel, Sage (Summer 2004). "New Books: No Hair Day by Elsa Dorfman BI '73". Radcliffe Quarterly. Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  11. Damsker, Matt. "No Hair Day. A collaboration by Elsa Dorfman". iPhotoCentral. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  12. "Interview with Elsa Dorfman". Mamut Photo. 28 June 2005. Retrieved 2009-08-25.