The subject is centered in the middle of the frame making the composition of the photograph somewhat simple. His head is tilted to the left which gives the image some movement. His eyes are located in the top thirds line. His eyes are the first thing you see when you look at this photograph. He also has a tattoo in his chest that balances out the image by creating movement in the middle area. The tattoo is composed of six flame-like lines that open to each side of his chest. His abdomen muscles also create horizontal lines in the lower thirds area that help ground his body in the black background. The lighting of the image is intentional in creating shadows on his face which gives the photograph a sense of mystery or a sense of loneliness and sadness.
This photograph deals only with one subject. The subject is a naked, muscular, middle aged, tattooed, sad looking, U.S. standard “good looking”, and white-looking male. He is centered in the middle of the photograph, it is just him. It is a black and white photograph that is framed by a caption that reads: “You’re so exotic! May I take your photograph? I’ve always been attracted to hairy women. You’re the Third Sex! You intrigue me. My attraction to you doesn’t mean I’m gay: you’re really a woman. I think transsexuals are sexy. I like very butch women. You’re the best of both worlds. Do you have a penis?
This text completely loads the image of meaning and redefines in an exaggerated way what we look. As Barthes argues, and as it can be applied to this image, the text is a parasitic message that connotes the image, the image no longer illustrates the words; the text instead sublimates pathetizices or rationalizes the image. After reading the text you continue the connotative analysis by placing the subject within your assumptions and ordinary prejudices that read somewhat like this: this is a man who used to be a woman who is now very male looking. If I hadn’t read the text, I would have assumed he was a “real” man. He is good looking and it looks like he works out, he’s tattoo is nice. I wonder how his genitals look, does he have a penis?
The fact that he is naked also connotes several things. By showing a naked subject the image makes a statement about the body. Concepts of beauty and materiality; of touch and “having been there” make us relate to the photograph in a distinct manner. As embodied subjects we know what it feels to be naked and to have a body no matter the intersections of our identities. However, we don’t know what it feels to have a transsexual body if we are not transsexual; to have a body that is raced or gendered differently from our own; or to have a body that is differently-abled than our own. This photograph then confronts us with the anxieties or easiness that being naked might imply, makes us feel observed back because we have experienced being naked.
The subject appears to be sad. He’s gaze is intensely looking at us, either challenging or angry. In the context of what the text is telling us, his sadness/anger is a response to the assumptions and stereotypes that a large majority of people who have misconceptions about transsexuality impose on transsexual subjects. He is naked and at the same time dressed with such assumptions and stereotypes. The sign in the photograph is a white male, the caption framing the image separates the signified from the signifier due to the renewed meaning that the image takes right after reading the text. By doing this, the image and in a sense the photograph make evident the way we analyze and look at photographs and in general at bodies.
Since this is a self portrait, the subject’s gaze is loaded with meaning. He is looking directly into the audience’s eyes and he is looking into his own eyes. This photograph is the representation of his identity and in a way he’s challenging the audience to look and to look at the ways in which we are conditioned to look. Loren Cameron the author and subject of the photograph is a transsexual man who produced a book titled Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits. This is the first book by a transsexual man which deals with transsexual subjects that is a book of transsexual representations by someone from within that community. This fact is important in how we analyze the photograph because it frames the text and image in a discussion of issues of representation and who has the power to represent who in our societies.
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