News
■■■^—7^
Photographer
Loren Cameron
shows an
80-slide
presentation ,
about trangender
folks.
Photo by Michael Jerch
Activism Through Art
Photographer’s pictures show confidence in journey from female to male
By Renan Snowden
Photographer Loren Cameron’s
presentation on January 16, in the New
Student Union of his photographs of
transgender individuals was less about the
pictures and more about informing his
audience about transgender issues.
Using 80 shdes spanning his 10-year
career as a photographer of transgender
individuals, Cameron guided the audience
through his own journey from beginning
a Female-To-Male (FTM) transition in 1987
to sharing his work today as an activist for
the transgender community. Cameron, 44,
'vas raised in rural Arkansas before moving
to San Francisco, where he currently resides.
His talk focused on both the emotional
and physical aspects of the sex change
process.
Cameron’s 1996 book Bo(^ Alchemy:
transsexual Portraits was heralded as
exposure of the nascent transgender
|ntovement through the first photographs
jtif transsexual individuals by a transsexual
person. His latest publication Man Tool,
published only on the Internet, details the
Itesuks of reconstructive surgery and
I hormonal therapy of patients undergoing
I ^ Female-to-Male transition.
I Cameron’s self-portraits, taken before
l^nd after his transition, demonstrate his
Increase in confidence since transitioning,
fu his first self-portrait, using ambient
light, his former breasts are exposed, but
his face is occluded by shadow. The current
self-portrait shows off not only his chest
reconstruction surgery but also the
tremendous strength Cameron has gained
from bodybuilding. Shot against the same
plain, black background he uses for all his
nude portraits, one hand is on the shutter
and the other injects testosterone into his
thigh. It is this hormone therapy,
complemented by his chest reconstmetion
surgery, that Cameron says makes him feel
as if his sex has changed. He now identifies
as male. He agreed with one of his subjects
who said, “I finally feel like I am in my
own body.” His other work on transsexuals
includes pohee officers, bodybuilders and
actresses who are shown both clothed and
nude.
While activism for transgender issues
has increased since he began his
photography in 1993, Cameron cited
common misconceptions that persist
against transsexuals from heterosexual and
LGBTIQ communities. He said people
sometimes assume transsexuals have
changed genders to become straight and
therefore have an easier Ufe. The decision
to pursue a sex- change often alienates close
family and friends who do not understand
the desire to change. Cameron said that
since his transition he had been excluded
from his former circle of lesbian friends,
who now consider him to be straight.
In the past medical professionals
believed that for transsexuals, the full
measure of reconstructive surgery should
be taken in order to transition s so that the
person would fully feel as if he or she had
changed. Now, transsexuals argue that that
there is “no one way to be like us.” Instead
of focusing on the costly physical changes,
many transsexuals Cameron photographed
believed they were satisfied by their partial
surgery because it made them feel as if they
had transitioned. The emphasis for them
was on their identity, not their physiology.
Cameron’s work is noteworthy
because it gives the greater transgender
community the forum to express their
experiences through photographs and
stories. Whether it was the MTF starlet
with a seductive smile and red formal gloves
or the FTM police officer on the job,
Cameron treats his subjects with dignity.
The images are not merely documentation
but simple and informative art. The
subjects often are appearing nude for the
first time, but Cameron said he believes
his work enables other people, as well as
the subjects themselves, to see transgender
individuals as beautiful. Chase, a black
body builder, agreed to pose, saying that
while he was not usually vocal about being
an FTM, he realized that he longer needed
to be ashamed. Cameron’s photographs
have served to increase pride and visibility
for transgender people. •