Claude Cahun

"I am in training don't kiss me"

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Claude Cahun

Je tends les bras, 1931

Gelatin silver print

15.6 cm x 21 cm

Image taken from tate.org.uk

Je tends les bras, which translates to I extend my arms, depicts just that. A pair of arms emerge and reach out from two openings within a large stone. The gesture suggests an attempt at reaching out for someone or something. Because the photograph only shows a small portion of the body, there remains a mystery to the identity of the individual. This exchange or interaction between the human body and inanimate stone also reveals Cahun’s roots in Surrealist thinking.

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Claude Cahun

Que me veux tu? 1929

Gelatin silver print

8 cm x 23 cm

Image taken from metmuseum.org

Que me veux tu? is a somewhat unsettling image as it shows two versions of the artist almost as if emerging from one form. The contrast between the subject and background along with the transparency of the superimposed image create a ghostly effect that adds to the unsettling look of it. This technique was often utilized by many Surrealist artists. Like with most of her self-portraits, Cahun appears to be in conversation with questions about identity, also touching on the portrayal of “masculinity” and “femininity.”

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Claude Cahun

Self Portrait, 1928

Gelatin silver print

9.21 cm x 6.67 cm

Image taken from AnOthermag.com

Claude Cahun utilizes Surrealist concepts to represents herself through various staged personas in many of her self-portraits. In this particular self-portrait from 1928, Cahun takes on an androgynous persona. She positions herself in front of a mirror and holds a firm gaze with the viewer. Her stance is composed, confident yet relaxed in the clearly staged pose.

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Bibliography

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Andersen, Corinne. "Que me veux-tu?/ What do you want of me?: Claude Cahun's Autoportraits and the Process of Gender Identification." Women in French studies 13 (2005): 37-50. EBSCOhost. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

Bailey, Laura, and Lizzie Thynne. "Beyond Representation: Claude Cahun's Monstrous Mischief-Making." History of Photography 29.2 (2005): 135-48. EBSCOhost. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

Cahun, Claude. Disavowals: or Cancelled confessions. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008. Print.

Cahun, Claude, Marcel Moore, and Louise Downie. Don't Kiss Me: The Art of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. New York: Aperture Foundation, 2006. Print.

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Hutchison, Sharla. “Convulsive Beauty: Images of Hysteria and Transgressive Sexuality Claude Cahun and Djuna Barnes.” Symplokē 11.1/2 (2003): 212–226. JSTOR. Web. 31 Mar. 2017

Oberhuber, Andrea. "Claude Cahun, Marcel Moore, Lise Deharme and the Surrealist Book." History of Photography 31.1 (2007): 40-56. EBSCOhost. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

Shaw, Jill. “Still Life Filled with Space.” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 35.2 (2009): 95. JSTOR. Web. 31 Mar. 2017

Thynne, Lizzie. Papers of Surrealism 8 (2010): 1-24. Papers of Surrealism. Surrealism Centre, 19 May 2010. Web. 1 Apr. 2017.

Zachmann, Gayle. "The Photographic Intertext: Invisible Adventures in the Work of Claude Cahun." Contemporary French and Francophone Studies 10.3 (2006): 301-10. EBSCOhost. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.