Loren Cameron

Photography Post #8

Alysha Reed

Loren Cameron is an award-winning photographer that was born as a woman and today is a man.  He tells the story of how he became the man he is today and the trials and tribulations he had to go through in order to reach the point he has reached.  Starting out from playing with G.I Joes to hiding breasts, Cameron always knew he did not feel comfortable in his own skin.  Initially Cameron identified as a Butch Lesbian, which included dressing and appearing to be male yet maintaining the female genitalia. 

Around 1993, Cameron picked up a camera for the first time.  His photographs started off similar to those of high school girls that stretch their arms out as far as they can reach in order to snap the shot.  Shot after shot was taken to show the unfamiliar transformation his body was undergoing: “the surgical reinvention of self”.  It was then that he decided the Transsexual community needed an insider to photograph them. 

Slowly Cameron was introduced to more trans and learned more stories.  As he learned the stories he photographed the people and the changes their bodies underwent as the hormones kicked in stronger and stronger. 

It may be of interest to check out some of Cameron’s work.  A collection of Cameron’s photographs Body Alchemy was published in 1996 and the book shows everything you could ever want to know about female-to-male bodies.  More recently Cameron has put out a new e-book Man Tool: The Nuts and Bolts of Female-to-Male Surgery.

Cameron’s photography shows the stark straight up truth about a female-to-male body.  His photographs are not taken at crafty angles or in artsy lighting, they are blunt and to the point.  The way he takes his photos make a point that the body of a female-to-male transgender is not a specifically crafted body with perfect angles, or always seen in an artsy light; rather it is a body, nothing more, nothing less. 

If you are interested in a glance of what Cameron’s ebook looks like, simply follow this link:

http://www.lorencameron.com/mantool/open/about.html

Works Cited

Cameron, Loren. "Portrait of a Man." The Advocate May 25 1999: 46-9. Alt-PressWatch; GenderWatch. Web. 26 Apr. 2012.

Tristan Taormino.  "Building a better cock. " The Village Voice  14  May 2002,Alt-Press Watch (APW), ProQuest. Web.  26 Apr. 2012.