On June 19, 2013 Sherry Marie Dote, NYC based artist and activist, commemorated the seventh anniversary of her preemptive double mastectomy in front of Victoria's Secret in SOHO. Her son, New York City based photographer Mike Dote, took photos of his mother and graciously shared them with D&B.

I'm proud of my mother. First and foremost. She's a fighter, and a tough cookie when it really comes down to it. Her whole life, she's battled a difficult life condition with a positive outlook and she's doing the best I've seen her in a long time.

Taking these photos, as always, is frightening and a scary thing on some level, because I have to confront the fact that in spite of her emotionally nurturing nature, my mother is physically barren, stripped away elements of womanhood by a medical system that didn't do her justice but in a sense, it is a cathartic journey for me to make these photos, because I get a chance to help my mother while confronting a difficult and trying reality with the camera in hand.