claude cahun

Claude Cahun (1894–1954), self-portrait (shaved head, material draped across body), 1928, negative, 4 3/4 x 3 3/8 inches, courtesy of the jersey heritage collections

SELF-PORTRAIT

From the age of 18, Lucy Schwob, known as Claude Cahun, turned the camera into a mirror of metamorphosis. Through androgynous, staged self-portraits, she multiplied herself into shifting personae, undoing the illusion of a single, coherent identity. Masks, shaved heads, theatrical poses — each image refuses classification. She portrayed herself as an aviator, dandy, doll, vamp, bodybuilder, vampire, angel, and Japanese puppet, prefiguring the work of artists such as Cindy Sherman. “Neuter is the only gender that always suits me,” she wrote, a declaration that resonates as both an intimate confession and a radical manifesto.

Cahun cultivated a lifelong intimate and artistic collaboration with Suzanne Malherbe, who adopted the name Marcel Moore. Moore was not only a muse, but also had…