Ann Marsden

July 9, 2012 8:03 PM

Photographer Ann Marsden passed away last night. Much of Marsden's work depicted the theater and arts in the twin cities of Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her best friend, Lisa Nebenzahl, was documenting Marsden's losing battle with cervical cancer with photographs. Those simple and powerful photos are posted here.
posted by HuronBob (9 comments total)

My mother passed away from cancer. A lot of those photos are near impossible for me to view. I recognized the chemo port. The emesis bucket. The IVs. The mask to prevent opportunistic infections.

I would never wish this on anyone.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:17 PM on July 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

.

Also, go get vaccinated for HPV. It's been approved for men now too, so go spread that herd immunity so our (grand)kids won't have to read stories like this one.
posted by schmod at 8:47 PM on July 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

Cancer is a bitch. I've known far too many people suffering from some form of cancer - some have survived, some have not.

. times a million
posted by littlesq at 8:48 PM on July 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

I never met Ann, and I have to say I'm a bit surprised I never did. I was a theater critic in the Twin Cities for seven years, and her photographs regularly accompanied my stories. Looking through her photos now, they are almost all of people I know, and many of people I count as my friends. And she always did a lovely job. Sometimes creating press photos for theater is just by-the-book PR: You get the characters in costume and shoot them on the stage. Ann never did that. She tried to capture the essence of the play in her photographs, as well as something of the character of the performers.

I know that my friends in the Twin Cities are quite sad at her passing. And I know how important good art is to a news story. We never met, but, in a way, I feel as though she and I were collaborators for a long time. RIP Ann.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 10:01 PM on July 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Boy, I could so relate to all those pics, having been through 3 types of cancer. I could relate to being lovingly supported too, as MeFite friends literally got me through the toughest year of my life in 2008, helped bring me back from the brink.

Those pics brought tears rushing to my eyes, sadness to my heart. My condolences to those who loved/love Ann. May she rest in peace.
posted by nickyskye at 10:05 PM on July 9, 2012

As someone who... knows someone who went our for dinner the other night and spewed all across the table, I will keep the phrase 'urp bucket' in might, because the phrase "fuck cancer" keeps popping up with depressing regularity.

But these were fucking depressing, especially the shot of her and Lilly the dog.
(Crap interface, but I can forgive that).
posted by Mezentian at 12:26 AM on July 10, 2012

. for Ann, for those we've lost.

! for those still fighting.
posted by kinnakeet at 5:17 AM on July 10, 2012

Is there an interface for viewing the photos in the second link besides sitting on the home page watching them flash by at their own pace?
posted by jacquilynne at 7:24 AM on July 10, 2012

Third link, rather.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:24 AM on July 10, 2012