What is Identity?

Identity can be defined in many different ways. Identity can be described as the fact of being who or what a person or thing is, the way you are viewed by the world and the characteristics that define you. However people in photography normally portray the word identity as something that you truly are whether you show it to the world or not, for example being gay but not coming out. The photography based around identity tries to portray the real identity of the person being photographed and show who they truly are compared to how the world sees them. Identity photography can also be used to show objects, people or hobbies people love and they feel expresses them.

Claude Cahun

Claude Cahun was born in France on the 24th October 1894 and was born as Lucy Schwob. Lucy Schwob later became Claude Cahun to be gender neutral. She was a lesbian, photographer, sculptor and writer. Cahun was born into a prominent intellectual Jewish family with a Mother who suffered mental health issues meaning she was brought up by her blind Grandmother. As a teenager Claude suffered from multiple mental health issues such as depression , anorexia and suicidal thoughts. Also at this time she met her love and future lifelong partner Suzanne Malherbe, however Claude’s Father married Malherbes mother making them step-sisters although this did not stop them.
She began making photographic self-portraits as early as 1912 (aged 18), and continued taking images of herself through the 1930s. Her images portray a dizzying kaleidoscopic mix of mystery, exuberance, and sobriety. She had an obsession with examining gender, using herself as subject.  A year later she published her first collaboration with Malherbe titled  “Vues et visions”.  In her self-portraits, she presented herself sometimes as a man, sometimes as a woman, and sometimes so heavily made-up and costumed that it was impossible to determine her persona’s gender. A series of self-portraits from 1927–29 show her masquerading as a feminized male wearing lipstick, painted-on heart-shaped rouge, and a shirt with painted-on black nipples  that reads, “I am in training, don’t kiss me.”
Cahun died on December 8th , 1954 and it wasn’t until 40 years later that her work was noticed and appreciated by people.