129: How photography helped heal a couple in the aftermath of cancer

Anna and Jordan Rathkopf met in Prague at an ’80s nightclub. While music brought them together, another creative outlet soon became central to their relationship: Anna began teaching Jordan about photography, which later became his career.

Years later, they were living in Brooklyn with their young son when Anna was diagnosed with breast cancer. The morning after the phone call that changed their lives, “We saw cameras on the table, looked at each other, and I think we both just understood instantly that this was something we both were going to need to lean on to help get through it,” Jordan told me on this episode of the “First Opinion Podcast.”

This conversation was inspired by their dual First Opinion essays, in which each discusses how the photographs said what they could not put into words.