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With this as the foundation of its standpoint, Moments in Time invited 13 seemingly ordinary South Africans living with cancer to do just that. It called on them to be still, to reflect upon themselves and their personal journeys with this insidious illness. It gave them a platform from which to share messages of hope and the life's lessons that can only be gained through waging a battle for mortality.
An initiative created and sponsored by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Moments in Time, now in its eighth year of production, hopes to reveal the concept of "meaning in life" through stories of courage, faith and fearlessness. Stories all told by extraordinary people through the lens of a camera. The annual project sees cancer ambassadors celebrated within the pages of the Moments in Time calendar and the 2010 product offerings are profoundly breathtaking in both their beauty and their portrayal of the paradox that is cancer.
What began as a sophisticated black-and-white calendar has evolved these eight years into a kaleidoscope of colour and creativity. The 2010 calendar assumes a very distinctive look. It makes a dramatic statement through the stunning simplicity of an all-white design that doesn't detract from its vibrancy.
One of the many reasons the calendar enjoys the support of so many South Africans, is the engaging nature of the photographs that portray new cancer ambassadors each year. The photos always look beyond the cancer, expertly capturing the person behind the illness, bringing to life their intrinsic essence and spirit. There is the hope that those who buy the 2010 calendar will catch a glimpse of the journeys of these extraordinary hand-selected people whose emotive images capture a precise moment in time, in which their attitude has caused them to discover meaning in life.
Taking nearly six months to produce, the Moments in Time project offers a breathtaking integration between the stills and video imagery that seamlessly blend the styling, poetry and the philosophy. The colour de-saturation, as well as the aesthetic design of the final products, provides soft ethereal textures that hint at whimsical moments, set against the composite messages which are portrayed by the imaginative integration of detailed facets.
The healing power of water is one such facet and it sets the tone for this year's calendar theme. To bring the subject to life, the creative team travelled to Hartebeespoort dam where highly acclaimed photographer, Merwelene van der Merwe, artistically captured and fashioned the theme. The images contained within the simplistic all-white design, are set against the backdrop of water. An all white wardrobe further heightens the calendars central thematic and the pure, symbiotic relationship with water.
The call to surrender and accept forms a large part of the essence of the project ambassadors, as well as their journeys that are expertly portrayed in the calendar. Epitomising this message is water and the might of its power, that on surrender, allows an effortless flow, rather than a struggle against its current. Acceptance follows surrender, and this becomes apparent in the final manifestation of the patient's desire for a purpose driven life, thus facilitating the complete transformation of the individual.
What makes Moments in Time no ordinary calendar project is the range in age, the varied backgrounds, the diverse life experiences, and the different forms of the disease that the ambassadors contained within its pages represent. At first glance, the only thing they seem to have in common is cancer. On closer inspection and looking through the windows of their souls, when searching for the story behind their smiles, something significantly unifying becomes evident. These amazing people are not brought together by disease alone, but rather by the choices that have shaped their lives.
The calendar project is a multi-dimensional, artistic expression of its inspiration and its recurrent theme of "meaning in life", a Victor Frankl philosophy, is woven into the very tapestry of the project. The work of Frankl suggests we are able to choose our attitude under any given set of circumstances, thereby receiving the freedom to experience meaning in life. The calendar sets out to be a visual representation of the "fruits of the human spirit”, and undoubtedly captures Frankl's enlightened epiphanies of "hope in the face of despair", “passion in the face of pain", “joy in the face of sadness” and “power in the face of vulnerability".
As in years gone by, accompanying the 2010 project is a documentary featuring all 13 of the Moments in Time ambassadors. It is a unique must-see as it further encapsulates, via a different medium, all the principles and philosophies that this year's calendar stands for.
For AstraZeneca, this project is not just an exercise in corporate responsibility (CR), but rather it has become a personal project, very close to the company's heart.
Meet 33 year old Tanya Lue, as she takes us through her journey of living with breast cancer...
All the Moments in Time products are on sale from mid-August and can be ordered online at www.momentsintime.co.za, or by simply calling 0861 66 66 00.
