Artists
Diane Leopard
Diane is a clinical complementary therapist living in Stoke-on-Trent. In 2013, aged 49, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Treatment included surgery, radiotherapy, and hormone treatment.
Prior to her diagnosis, she had completed several specialist training courses to enable her to care for cancer patients. She co-founded a business which provided therapies for cancer patients and people with long term illnesses. She also spent two years as a volunteer at her local hospice, where her mum and several friends had undergone treatment for breast cancer. She foolishly thought she had a good understanding of cancer but absolutely nothing had prepared her for the devastating impact of her own diagnosis.
In 2015, she was awarded the Federation of Holistic Therapists prize for Excellence in Practice. With the prize money, she decided to buy a camera and enrolled onto an adult learning course. Her project was to present a portfolio of photographs telling the story of a ‘Journey’. Diane decided to reflect on her personal cancer journey through photographs of nature.
That was the beginning of Letting Photographs Tell Their Stories, a series of non-clinical photographs to describe the emotional impact of a cancer diagnosis. She has presented the collection as an illustrated talk at various group meetings including cancer support groups, hospices, Women’s Institute and workplaces as well as being featured in the press and several websites.
Prior to her diagnosis, she had completed several specialist training courses to enable her to care for cancer patients. She co-founded a business which provided therapies for cancer patients and people with long term illnesses. She also spent two years as a volunteer at her local hospice, where her mum and several friends had undergone treatment for breast cancer. She foolishly thought she had a good understanding of cancer but absolutely nothing had prepared her for the devastating impact of her own diagnosis.
In 2015, she was awarded the Federation of Holistic Therapists prize for Excellence in Practice. With the prize money, she decided to buy a camera and enrolled onto an adult learning course. Her project was to present a portfolio of photographs telling the story of a ‘Journey’. Diane decided to reflect on her personal cancer journey through photographs of nature.
That was the beginning of Letting Photographs Tell Their Stories, a series of non-clinical photographs to describe the emotional impact of a cancer diagnosis. She has presented the collection as an illustrated talk at various group meetings including cancer support groups, hospices, Women’s Institute and workplaces as well as being featured in the press and several websites.
