Both Claude Cahun and Shannon O’Donnell deal with similar themes of rebellion against society’s expectations and tradition in general, which could both be considered political in a way. They relate to the expectations placed upon women to look and act in a certain way, using self-portraiture to project their own feelings on the subject in a way that others can comprehend and relate. The two artists present the subject of gender, it’s link to biological sex, and their own personal experience in their photography in a way that directly and indirectly challenges both the individual viewer and society as a whole to reflect on gender identity, feminism, and the politics surrounding gender.

The theory that gender, “the roles, characteristics, and activities that distinguish men from women” (MoMA, Constructing Gender) is not some biological fact but rather a series of notions constructed by society, is apparent throughout much of both artists’ work, with the differences being that O’Donnell uses it to explore and experiment with her gender identity, and Cahun is much more continual and secure in representing herself as always on the line between society’s idea of a woman or a man, firmly placing herself on the spectrum of androgyny, instead of simply experimenting with it like O’Donnell. The idea of gender being a social construct link into the Surrealist art movement as well, which Claude Cahun was a key part of during her lifetime.

The link between gender identity and political rebellion is not a new one, as can clearly be seen in Cahun’s work, which dates over sixty years ago in some instances. The connection rises from the continued control of women in the law, from abortion and sexual health nowadays to the right to get married, own property, have a job in any particular career, all of which were limited to women in Cahun’s era, although they would be considered basic rights in modern times. This historic oppression and attempted control of women leads to rebellion from women and men alike, often resorting to art or literature as mediums to express their anger. The use of art as a form of rebellion against politics is one of a few clear reasons why both of these artists and their work can be considered political.

This image represents Cahun’s belief that she had multiple identities at once, famously quoted saying “I will never finish removing all these masks,” demonstrating how her gender was more of a performance than a set of rules she adhered to that were presented to her by other people/society. Her skin is clear and bright white due to the exposure, as a result her dark eyes stand out prominently from the whole image, inviting us to judge her expression and guess her thoughts through them. She was very fond of the double exposure method and often used it in her self-portraits to illustrate two separate identities, or “selfs”, sometimes with completely contrasting characteristics of emotions.

However, in this image, the double exposure is more used to demonstrate how she feels herself pulled between two different sides of herself, perhaps between genders. She said in Disavowed Confessions, “Masculine? Feminine? It depends on the situation. Neuter is the only gender that always suits me.”, which is possibly what this image is visually representing.

The image is black and white, typical of the time it was taken (1920s). The focus of the image is clearly the two heads of Cahun in the centre foreground, with a plain dark background drawing even more attention to them. The image is titled “what do you want from me?” in French, which further reveals how Cahun is indifferent to the expectations placed on her by other people to be traditionally feminine, and that her art is a direct rebuttal and refusal of this. Another interpretation could be that the question is directed to herself, and she is internally struggling with how to define herself as a person and be content with it.

Shannon O’Donnell is a contemporary photographer who also focuses on gender roles as topic of exploration, and her work often questions authority figures and prescribed ideas in society. Her series “Shrinking Violets” mocks women’s traditional roles in the household, “Abort Mission” links the Catholic Church to the continued control over women’s reproductive rights and the general oversexualisation of women, and “That’s Not The Way The River Flows” illustrates O’Donnell’s own exploration of her gender identity and traditional ideas of gender in society.

This image is taken from O’Donnell’s project “That’s Not The Way The River Flows,” and it mirrors the image I analysed by Cahun in that it is a self-portrait of her face, representing her internal struggle and her perception of her own identity. She is dressed in a suit, which is stereotypically masculine, but we can see her feminine facial features through the fabric wrapped around her head. This piece of fabric could be interpreted to symbolise how she feels trapped by the societal norms she is expected to follow, or possibly it could be that she feels, much like Cahun, that she is wearing a mask and that the way she presents herself normally is not the way she wants to be.

The image is also in black and white, but less harsh than Cahun’s as the technology nowadays allows for far more tonal range. There are a lot of grey tones in the image, and the fabric covering O’Donnell’s face is practically the same colour as the background; it could almost fade into the background if it weren’t for the fact that O’Donnell’s eyes, eyebrows and lips are still visible underneath. The greatest contrast is between the blazer and the white shirt, as the shirt is quite noticeably brighter white, plus the textures of the two fabrics are visually different: the shirt is smooth, crisp and soft, and the blazer looks rougher and more coarse.