The Grace Project

Charise Isis: Founder, photographer, and executive director of the Grace Project.

 

Charise Isis is a fine art photographer whose work explores themes of embodiment, identity, and the reclamation of beauty. Drawing inspiration from classical sculpture and goddess iconography, her photographs invite viewers to reconsider the cultural standards that shape our understanding of worth and physical perfection.

In 2009, Charise began The Grace Project, a photographic tribute to those who have undergone surgery and treatment due to breast cancer, honoring survivors, thrivers, and the cherished memory of those whose lives were cut short by breast cancer, and whose presence and legacy remain at the heart of this work. What began as an offering of witness, empowerment, and sacred visibility has grown into one of the largest photographic archives of its kind, with more than 1,200 portraits created. Each portrait session offers not only an image, but a transformative experience that allows individuals to see themselves reflected as powerful, radiant, and whole.

Charise originally set out to create 800 portraits, mirroring the approximate number of people diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States every day. She reached that milestone in October 2023, and is now working toward a monumental installation of 800 large-scale portraits shown together, creating a visceral, immersive testament to the scale of this disease and the vast humanity within it.

The Grace Project is now expanding to include a new chapter honoring those impacted by gynecological cancers, continuing Charise’s commitment to restoring visibility, dignity, and reverence to bodies shaped by survival, loss, remembrance, and transformation.

Exhibitions

• The National Women’s Memorial Museum, Arlington, VA
• The Griffin Museum of Photography, MA
• The Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY
• Michael Mazzeo Gallery, NYC
• Houston VAMC (Michael DeBakey Medical Center)
• Millar Gallery, Cincinnati
• John C. Doyle & Revealed Gallery, Charleston, SC
• The Idea Garden Gallery, Kingston, NY

Collections

• The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
• The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz, NY
• Houston VAMC
• Photographers Network Collection, Seigen, Germany

Publications

Ms. Magazine, Elle, Photography Quarterly, Profifoto (Germany), NY Arts Magazine, The Huffington Post, Refinery29, Der Spiegel, and The Daily Mail.

Awards

• Congressional Certificate of Honor for artistic work and breast cancer advocacy
• NYFA/NYSCA Fellowship in Photography
• Photo Lucida Critical Mass Top 50
• Flat Retreat Visibility Award
• Hudson Valley Women in Business Award
• Garrison Art Center Juror’s Award

Charise continues to travel throughout the United States, collaborating with hospitals, nonprofits, retreats, and survivor communities to create portrait experiences that are both artistic and deeply restorative.

She is occasionally available for commissioned work including personal and heirloom portraiture, creative branding and editorial portraits, fashion and fine art portraiture, and boudoir, glamour, and empowerment sessions.

Her approach is rooted in gentleness, clarity, and trust, resulting in portraits that reveal not only how someone looks, but who they are.

Contact: (914) 466-4347