ABSTRACT
Covering, broadly speaking, the period 1930–2020, this chapter traces the evolution of self-portraiture in early photography, looking at works by Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol, before moving on to analyse key works by Claude Cahun, Ana Mendieta, Francesca Woodman, Lynn Hershman Leeson, VALIE EXPORT, Cindy Sherman, Gillian Wearing, and Zanele Muholi. More specifically, the chapter shows how these artists used cameras to capture their performance of multiple roles and personae, including those generated by their families or other artists. Looking into fabrication, documentation, and legacy creation, the chapter shows how the artists problematised the viewer’s gaze and herewith subverted canonic discourses of power.
