Susan Boe, a breast cancer survivor, was tired of looking at images of others with the disease that always seemed somber, serious and miserable.

So she decided to do something about it, by taking her own pictures — ones that show hope, smiles and a joy of life among women who have struggled with the illness.

"I wanted to take pictures of these women living their lives, not looking somber," said Boe, who celebrated her 10-year anniversary of being cancer free Wednesday. "I took pictures of women in their natural environment, and I didn't Photoshop out any wrinkles. This is what they look like — and they look beautiful."

An exhibit of 36 of Boe's pictures will be on display at the Santa Fe Woman's Club and the Cancer Institute of New Mexico starting Oct. 12.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The disease strikes about 180,000 women in the U.S. each year, and about 40,000 of those patients don't survive.

But early detection and mammograms can help improve the odds, and that's one thing Boe would like to encourage.

The goal of her show, however, is to reach out to others suffering from breast cancer and let them know they're not alone, she said.

"I took real comfort in talking to other women who've been through breast cancer," Boe said. "Talking to women in this project, it really took me back to my own struggle with cancer, but I always left with a real high."

Women in the exhibit range in age from their 20s to their 60s, and come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. Each picture also comes with a short story about the survivor and her experience.

"I think it shows that breast cancer is just one thing that these women have been through in their lives," Boe said. "It doesn't have to define them."

Still, the journey through cancer and treatment isn't an easy path, said Elizabeth Harris, a 43-year-old Santa Fean who was diagnosed in the spring and has recently finished her treatment. Harris is one of the show's subjects.

This year's diagnosis was not her first battle with cancer. Harris had Hodgkin's disease at age 24, and a complication of her radiation treatment was the cause of her more recent breast cancer, she said.

"Cancer, getting through it, it's different things to different people," she said. "Some people have faith; some don't. But you always seem to find that you can endure more than you thought you could."

Going through it, for her at least, involved three stages. At first, there's a lot of learning to do, researching and reading about the cancer. After that, once treatment begins, it becomes a sort of endurance process, struggling through weakness, nausea and other complications. And finally, after you recover, the process turns to moving forward with your life, she said.

"You can survive," Harris said. "But there's always sort of a low-level anxiety. After you're done, there's a wait-and-see process. You have more doctor visits, more tests. It's hard to say, 'Oh, sure, I'm fine now.' "

But as she continues to regain strength after her treatment, Harris becomes mentally stronger, she said.

"I'm waiting for my energy to return, to get my strength back, but as that happens, I can participate in my life more, and that makes me happy," she said. "You can grow a lot mentally and spiritually from this experience."

Most importantly, Harris said, she hopes other women will really pay attention and get regular checkups so if they get breast cancer, they will find it early and have a greater chance of recovery.

"I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy, but it is manageable," she said. "And I think if you look at this show, you can see how all the women, I think, we're very proud of ourselves for getting through this."

In Boe's case, she said, she didn't really take the disease as seriously as she probably should have before her diagnosis.

And that's something she wants other women to keep in mind. "I wasn't serious about checking my breasts," Boe said. "You know how a few weeks before you go to the dentist you start flossing like mad? It was sort of the same thing for me. I had a doctor's appointment coming up, and I started to check. I found a lump in my left breast."

She decided to have the lump removed, and sure enough, it was cancerous.

She went through surgery and radiation treatment, and remains healthy 10 years later, she said.

"I guess the show is kind of my way of giving back," Boe said. "A lot of women die from this disease. It's pretty serious business, but none of us have any guarantees in life. It's important to keep your sense of hope."

Contact Sue Vorenberg at svorenberg@sfnewmexican.com.

If you go

What: "Brave and Beautiful: A Breast Cancer Face Book," photography exhibit by Susan Boe about women and breast cancer.

When: 2-4 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Santa Fe Woman's Club, 1616 Old Pecos Trail, and during regular business hours Oct. 13-17, at the Cancer Institute of New Mexico, 490-A W. Zia Rd.

Cost: Free