Self Portrait after Claude Cahun, 2026

Photographed by Mandy Lee Jandrell on The Lizard, Cornwall, 2026

A postcard of a self portrait by Claude Cahun from 1928 has been with me since I encountered the work in The Modern Lens exhibition at Tate St Ives in 2015.

Photographed by my friend Mandy Lee Jandrell, at an almost deserted beach on the Lizard in August this year. Sometimes a work begins with something snagging in my mind, something to pursue, but this came fully formed as a desire simply to inhabit.

Special to attend the talk on Claude Cahun by Marcus Williamson at Falmouth Art Gallery shortly after making these images. Such an incredible life, such tender images. The biggest collection of their work is held at the Jersey Heritage Collection.

‘Claude Cahun (1894-1954) was an artist, photographer and writer. They are best known today for their surreal self-portrait photographs which show them dressed as different characters. Cahun questioned the accepted status-quo, particularly the position of women, through their art and in the way they lived their life.’  Jersey Heritage