Claude Cahun

Introduction

The work "I am in training, don't kiss me", dated circa 1927, is one of the most emblematic and conceptually layered photographic self-portraits by the French surrealist photographer, writer, and avant-garde intellectual Claude Cahun. In this shot, gender fluidity is not merely suggested but blatantly exhibited and performed with a theatrical irony aimed at subverting the rigid social, visual, and sexual norms of the first half of the twentieth century. Presenting themselves on stage with fake gymnast's weights resting on their knees, a markedly childish makeup with grotesque undertones, and a shirt bearing the eponymous declaration ("I am in training don't kiss me"), Cahun openly challenges the viewer's gaze.