Claude Cahun

Black and white photograph of a person wearing a checkered jacket and standing next to a mirror.

Claude Cahun was a French genderqueer photographer, writer, and sculptor best known for their self-portraits. Cahun worked with artist and partner Marcel Moore. Though most of their work was destroyed by the Nazis, what remains is an exploration of self as Cahun dons different clothes and attitudes to showcase a broad range of genders, sexualities, and personalities. Cahun is one of the seminal queer photographers who helped set the precedent for Queer Art. One of their most well-known photographs is Untitled (Self-Portrait with Mirror) which features Cahun in androgynous clothing and pose. They are next to a mirror but looking toward the camera and wearing a checkered jacket. With works like these, Cahun experimented with the reality and imagination of their gender to create a serious commentary on society’s expectations of gender presentation

Untitled (Self-Portrait with Mirror) by Claude Cahun. Image by ADiamondFellFromTheSky licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Black and white photograph of a person standing in front a black backdrop and wearing a suit. — *Self-Portrait* by Claude Cahun, 1921-22. Image by Confetta licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

See these links to more work by Claude Cahun:

Que me veux tu?, 1929

I’m in training don’t kiss me, circa 1927