Not As I Pictured: A Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographer's Journey Through Lymphoma

On the first day of his international journalism class at the University of Florida, Kaplan tips his cap to his students after explaining he had been diagnosed with cancer.

Diagnosed at age 48 with a potentially deadly form of lymphoma, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist John Kaplan turned the lens on himself and chronicled his experience in a moving visual journal.

Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer John Kaplan was at the top of his world. Never before ill, he was used to documenting the life ordeals of others. But when suddenly diagnosed with a rare case of potentially deadly Lymphoma, it was a blind side. Turning the lens on himself, Kaplan's remarkable imagery takes us beyond his despair and through his powerful belief that he can, and must, beat it.

Not As I Pictured: A Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographer's Journey Through Lymphoma airs Monday, January 30 at 8 p.m. on WXXI World (DT21.2/cable 524).

Through his visual journal, with help from his family, doctors, and even Mother Teresa and a rock star, Kaplan shares the same boundless determination that helped him become a famous photojournalist. Kaplan has judged the Pulitzers, too, and says that cancer stories are the biggest cliche. But when you get cancer, you don't feel like a cliche,you just pray you can beat it. Follow Kaplan's journey as he lives it through his own lens. The dreaded news of cancer is certainly no fun, but you can make it through to the other side, back to health and the joy of every day.

On Friday, January 20 John Kaplan spoke with WXXI's Elissa Orlando on Healthy Friday, heard the third Friday of every month on AM 1370. Kaplan spoke about his film and his triumph over cancer. To hear the interview, click here.