Loren Cameron
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Loren Rex Cameron (March 13, 1959 – November 18, 2022) was an American photographer, author and
transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...
activist. His work includes
portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...
s and
self-portrait Self-portraits are Portrait painting, portraits artists make of themselves. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, the practice of self-portraiture only gaining momentum in the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century ...
s consisting of transsexual bodies, particularly trans men, in both clothed and nude form.


Biography

Loren Rex Cameron was born in
Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...
, on March 13, 1959. In 1969, after his mother's death, he moved to
Dover, Arkansas Dover is a town in Pope County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 1,378 at the 2010 census. Dover is located in the Arkansas River Valley, and is part of the Russellville Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Dover was either named ...
, where he lived as a self-described
tomboy A tomboy is a girl or young woman who generally expresses masculine traits. Such traits may include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and engaging in activities and behaviors traditionally associated with boys or men. Origins The w ...
on his father's farm. By the age of 16, Cameron identified as a lesbian and encountered
homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
in the small town where he lived. At this time, Cameron quit school and left home to seek work as a construction worker and other
blue collar A blue-collar worker is a person who performs manual labor or skilled trades. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involve manufacturing, retail, warehousing, mining, carpentry, electrical work, custodia ...
employment. In 1979, he moved to the
San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...
where he identified socially with the lesbian community until the age of 26, when he confronted his dissatisfaction with his body and was excluded from the lesbian community. Cameron's interest in photography coincided with the beginning of his transition from female to male, which he documented photographically. In 1993, Cameron began studying the basics of photography and started photographing the transgender community. He gave lectures on his work at universities, educational conferences and art institutes. By 1995, Cameron's photographs had been shown in solo exhibitions in San Francisco,
Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
, and Los Angeles. Cameron died by suicide at his home in
Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...
, on November 18, 2022, at the age of 63. He had been in poor health due to congestive heart failure, and his sister told ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' that he had become withdrawn from family and friends. His death was not publicly reported until February 2023.


Photography

Critics praised Cameron's photographs as compelling and informative, while his work also drew backlash as being sexually explicit. Cameron's work was first shown as part of a 1994 exhibit in San Francisco. His images have also been exhibited in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, in Santiago, Chile, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and in Mexico City. They have been published in numerous books such as ''Constructing Masculinity: Discussions in Contemporary Culture'' and Leslie Feinberg's ''
Transgender Warriors ''Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman'', published in 1996, is an autobiographicalSchwartz, Patricia Roth. "Reviews: Transgender." Lambda Book Report, vol. 5, no. 2, Aug. 1996, p. 32. popular historyReview of ...
''. He also posed for photographers such as
Daniel Nicoletta Daniel Nicoletta (born December 23, 1954) is an Italian-American photographer, photojournalist and gay rights activist. Biography Daniel Nicoletta was born in New York City and raised in Utica, New York. In his late teens he left New York to at ...
,
Amy Arbus Amy Arbus (born April 16, 1954) is an American photographer. She teaches portraiture at the International Center of Photography, Anderson Ranch, NORD photography and the Fine Arts Work Center. She has published several books of photography, inclu ...
, and Howard Shatz. In many of his self portraits, Cameron included the shutter-release bulb that he used to take the photograph. In a 2016 article, Cathy Hannabach said that his choice to work alone and feature the bulb serves as a commentary on the self-made aspect of being transsexual. Hannabach wrote that Cameron's photography invoked issues of queer
bioethics Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, me ...
, and was intended to remove the clinical view of transsexual bodies and redefine them as not in need of a cure. His photography and writing was first published by
Cleis Press Cleis Press is an American independent publisher of books in the areas of sexuality, erotica, feminism, gay and lesbian studies, gender studies, fiction, and human rights. The press was founded in 1980 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It later moved to ...
in 1996. His first published works ('' Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits'' and ''Man Tool: The Nuts and Bolts of Female-to-Male Surgery'') consist largely of self-portraits, and portraits of other
female to male A trans man or transgender man is a man who was assigned female at birth. Trans men have a male gender identity, and many trans men undergo medical and social transition to alter their appearance in a way that aligns with their gender identit ...
transsexuals. ''Body Alchemy'' documented Cameron's personal experience of transition from female to male, his life as a man, and the everyday lives of
trans men A trans man or transgender man is a man who was assigned female at birth. Trans men have a male gender identity, and many trans men undergo Gender transition, medical and social transition to alter their appearance in a way that aligns with th ...
he knew. The nude figures' poses in the artist's photography often portray moments of action and performance. ''Body Alchemy'' became a double 1996
Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary Foundation, Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ+ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ+ literatur ...
winner, and was described by ''The New York Times'' as "a revelation". It became his most well-known work. Cameron lectured at universities across the United States, including Smith College, Harvard, Cornell, Brown, the
University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...
,
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, and the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...
. In 2012, The
University of Minnesota-Duluth The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the University of Minnesota System. UMD offers 17 bachelor's degrees in 87 majors, graduate programs in 24 different fields, a tw ...
invited Loren Cameron to campus to present his photography. The University paid Cameron $4,000 from student services to cover his speaker's fee and travel expenses. This decision was met with a backlash, due to him and his subjects' identity as transsexual individuals, as well as the nudity in Cameron's work. Despite the objections, Cameron delivered his presentation on September 26, 2012. In May 2008, Cameron presented his work at the
Palais de Tokyo The Palais de Tokyo (''Tokyo Palace'') is a building dedicated to modern and contemporary art, located at 13 avenue du Président-Wilson, facing the Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The eastern wing of the building belongs to ...
in Paris. He was profiled on the
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's
LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
-themed special '' Sex Change: Him to Her'', and on the
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's ''
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'' " Sexual Identity" series. He was also interviewed in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' magazine.


Books

*'' Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits''. 1996,
Cleis Press Cleis Press is an American independent publisher of books in the areas of sexuality, erotica, feminism, gay and lesbian studies, gender studies, fiction, and human rights. The press was founded in 1980 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It later moved to ...
. . *Cuerpos fotografiados por Cameron: fotografías. Volume 1. 2009, Taller Experimental Cuerpos Pintados. . *Cuerpos fotografiados por Cameron: fotografías. Volume 2. 2009, Taller Experimental Cuerpos Pintados. .


Awards and recognition

*
Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary Foundation, Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ+ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ+ literatur ...
, Inaugural Transgender Category, 1997 * Lambda Literary Award, Small Press Category, 1997 * Lambda Literary Award Nominee, Best Photography Category, 1997 *1997 FTM International Pride Award


References

* All biographical information is taken from '' Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits'' and the biography section o
''Online Alchemy''
as of November 11, 2008.


Further reading

* The Transiting Self: The Nude Self-Portraits of Transman Loren Cameron and Hermaphrodyke Del La Grace Volcano - by Tee A. Corinne - College Art Association Conference paper, 2002 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Loren Rex Cameron 1959 births 2022 suicides 2022 deaths 20th-century American photographers 21st-century American photographers American LGBTQ photographers American transgender artists American transgender writers LGBTQ people from California Lambda Literary Award winners People from Berkeley, California People from Pope County, Arkansas Suicides in California Transgender history in the United States Transgender male artists Transgender male writers Transgender photographers Transgender rights activists