Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The idea of gender is no long as fixed as it once was: Tootsie, La Cage aux Folles, and Milton Berle saw to that. But none of this has prepared us for Loren Cameron's amazing portraits of transsexuals. Beautifully reproduced and complemented with notes and short essays, these portraits of women who are now men may startle, but they will also make you marvel at the genuine complexities of life, sex, and desire. Body Alchemy might have been a curiosity, like Diane Arbus's photographs of those outside the physical and cultural mainstream, but Cameron's art is so empathetic, so precise, that we are left in awe and with a new understanding of the realities of being human.

Review

"Amazing..." -- The Advocate

"An irreplaceably valued documentation of a cultural moment" -- Diane Middlebrook, author, Anne Sexton: A Biography

"Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, Dianne Arbus among many others have all trained their lenses on the transgendered figure. Never have the transgendered seriously photographed their own. Not until Loren Cameron, that is." -- Kate Bornstein, author, Gender Outlaw

"At just the moment postmodernism would have us believe there is nothing photography hasn't already shown us, Loren Cameron's images defy all expectations. Welcome to the future." -- Doug Nickel

"Cameron's strategy is to allow his subjects to speak for themselves, creating an informative and emotional document that is likely the first of its kind." -- Barbara DeGenevieve, Camerawork

"I was so drawn to Loren Cameron's photographs that I went to see the original exhibition on which the book is based several times. Like all good art it demystifies its subjects. Where other photographs of transgendered people, even those taken by talented outsiders, inevitably emphasize their 'otherness' and view them theatrically, Loren Cameron makes them seem so immediately familiar (even when the poses and nudity could seem, in other hands, shocking and confrontational). Perhaps because the subjects themselves are so comfortable with their own bodies and with the participant-observer, we are comfortable with tehm, too. No matter how distanced and detatched we may feel when we start to view these works, it is simply impossible to 'gawk' at them, to remove ourselves from the intimate experience we are witnessing." -- Richard M. Levine

"Loren Cameron's razor-sharp vision compels us to focus on the complex transition from which transsexual men emerge. Cameron's photographs are as exquisite as they are meaningful." -- Leslie Feinberg, author, Stone Butch Blues and Transgender Warriors

This collection of transsexual photos and interviews is not recommended for general library purchase, but any collection specializing in sexual/gender issues and any personal collector will find this a unique, intriguing survey of the transsexual experience. Anticipate graphic yet artistic black and white photos. -- Midwest Book Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 100 pages
• Publisher: Cleis Press; 1st edition (October 16, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573440620
• ISBN-13: 978-1573440622
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #77,394 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #9 in	Books > Gay & Lesbian > Nonfiction > Transgender
  #12 in	Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Special Groups > Gay Men
  #49 in	Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Sociology > Social Groups

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Green with envy, March 1, 2002

By	mosquito (seedy lez bar/internet cafe) - See all my reviews

I'm a minority. I am very much outside this book's intended audience, to say the least. I am a straight bio-male. And I can say without any homosexual tension, that Mr. Cameron you are built like a god.

The photos border on Arbus-esque but offer a more compassionate less spectacle treatment of the subjects. I guess that's a point well demontsrated when the phographer spends as much time in front of the camera as well as behind. You are more inclined to look at these unusual subjects with reverence not repulsion. The book overall is beautifully put toether. Sparse and poignantly so.

Now the "green with envy" part. Even if Cameron is 5'3", for me to stand next to him would be totally emasculating. There aren't a lot of "real" men out there who are willing to go out to the gym to look that ripped. I feel so flabby.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Empowering, November 11, 2002

By	girlboy (suburban town, NY) - See all my reviews

This book was one of the greatest gifts I have ever gotten myself. When I finished reading and looking at the beautiful photographs, I hugged the book to my chest.
This book not only told me thru writings but also showed me that I wasn't alone. This book meant the world to me as a bigendered female. I had only read about others transgender people, but had never seen anyone besides myself.
Thank you Mr.Cameron. :)
I recomend this book to anyone dealing with transgender issues- whether they be trans themself, a realtive or friend of a trans person, or just plain curious.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dreams can Come True, December 21, 1999

By	Sarah Knight (suitland, md USA) - See all my reviews

I purchased this book as a gift for a f2M friend of mine who drew a LOT of hope from it. Loren's camera and words have a strong impact. Understanding one's self, our true nature, is vital. Body Alchemy is a valuable lesson in that.