With Cancer Beaten, Photographer’s Business Thrives

Wedding photographer Damon Tucci has always been a planner. His assisting shooters are capable of shooting weddings by themselves, and he’s got a tight-knit network of wedding photographers who shoot for one another in case of an emergency. 

But he wasn’t quite prepared for the diagnosis that would come his way last June: it was discovered that he had papillary thyroid cancer—and it was time to get his affairs in order to prepare for the worst. 

The Orlando, Florida-based Tucci, who spoke at WPPI 2015 on “Portraits with Soul,” prepared a backup photographer for each wedding scheduled last fall, wrote a will, and made sure his life insurance was in order, but he didn’t tell any of his clients about his condition until it was over. “The doctors told me it should not interfere with my work,” he says. “It was no day at the beach, but I survived, and strangely, I work even better when in a compromised state (like being sick). I think it makes me even more focused.” 

He didn’t miss a single assignment, and after a successful surgery in September that eradicated everything, Tucci was back to shooting weddings three weeks later.

Photo © Damon Tucci

“My real purpose is to be a great father who is present in my daughter’s life, and to be a good example for her and guide her to make good choices. It is also to help others, especially those less fortunate than myself; I want to leave a great karmic footprint,” says Tucci, who continues to volunteer his photographic skills for Habitat for Humanity, The Salvation Army and Camp Boggy Creek. “You only live once. Try not to be a stinker.”