Back in October, dad and photographer Josh Rossi made headlines after transforming his 3-year-old daughter into Wonder Woman for a badass birthday photo shoot. Now, he’s giving some other special kids the superhero treatment.
Rossi photographed six children with cancer or other serious medical issues dressed as characters from the Justice League.
“After I did the Wonder Woman series of my daughter, I got calls from families who had kids with cancer who asked me to do photo shoots for them,” Rossi told HuffPost. “They kept saying that their daughter or son was the real superhero. I decided to go out and find all of the real superheroes, the kids who have been fighting very difficult battles.”
The project took about two months to complete, as Rossi and his team made custom costumes for each child. His wife, Roxana, found participants through their network of friends and matched the kids to superheroes based on their illnesses.
“For example, Teagan, who first of all loves Superman, was born with half of a heart. He has a similar weakness to Superman. Superman’s heart grows weak when he is next to kryptonite,” Rossi told HuffPost.
“Kayden’s story was similar to Cyborg’s in that he almost died at birth but his mother chose to keep him alive and the doctors had to amputate both legs,” he added. “Cyborg is similar because after a bad accident he was going to die but his father kept him alive by giving him robotic parts.”
Rossi said he would describe all of the participants as superheroes because they are so strong and never seem to complain.
“I can’t believe all the chemo, radiation therapy and surgeries they have been through and still have a smile on their face,” he said. “It was really humbling to see how much the kids have suffered, as well as the parents.”
The dad wants people who see the photos to understand that weaknesses can make us strong. He added, “Hopefully it also inspires others to help those in need and who are suffering and get more involved in serving them.”
Keep scrolling for more of Rossi’s awesome Justice League photos and some behind-the-scenes shots from the project.
