Holding an illuminated glass heart, eight-year-old Brooklyn Mitchell and her father, Joseph Mitchell, stand next to each other with shirts unbuttoned, revealing nearly identical vertical scars over their sternums.
Both father and daughter had open-heart surgeries nearly four years apart, with Joseph Mitchell having had a heart transplant in 2016 and Brooklyn Mitchell an atrial septal defect repair in 2020.
JEA NSMC · 2025
With their shirts unbuttoned, the frame exposes the scars that are typically hidden—letting the viewer see it and believe that both of them have been through open-heart surgery. The glowing glass heart between them lets the eye fill in the anatomical hearts that were each touched by the doctor's scalpel.
Together, the scars and the heart light sit inside a father-daughter portrait of a story that isn't usually on display, the kind of story many wouldn't believe about two people who otherwise live seemingly normal lives. Seeing it, and seeing it lit, is the argument the photograph is trying to make.
Documentary
2025