In October 1989, photographer Nuccio DiNuzzo was diagnosed with chronic leukemia. Doctors offered two choices: DiNuzzo could continue treatment with drugs, which might add five years to his life, or he could pursue a bone marrow transplant in an attempt to rid his body of the cancerous cells.
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Knowing he might never leave the hospital, DiNuzzo was determined to record the ordeal for posterity and peace of mind. “I was interested in showing the progression–or digression, if you will–from the way I looked when I walked in through all the stages of the bone marrow transplant,” DiNuzzo says. “I knew my body would go through some transformation and I wanted to document that as an artist.”
“I almost used the camera as a tool to not think about what I was going through,” he says. “I used it to look through so that way it wouldn’t feel like it was affecting me directly.”
“My feeling at times was that I was buried in this room alive,” he says now. “I thought I would die in there.”
The photos, along with work by New York photographer Marc Asnin, will be on display at the New Works Gallery, in the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Architecture and Art Building, 901 W. Harrison, first floor, through February 28. There’s an opening reception from 5 to 7 tonight; regular viewing hours are 10 to 5 Monday through Friday. Admission is free; for information, call 996-5412.
