A Reflection of Desire: The Collaborative Relationship of Marcel Moore and Claude Cahun

Abstract

With this thesis I examine a number of works made by the photographer and writer Claude Cahun (1894-1954) alongside her romantic and artistic collaborator Marcel Moore (1892-1972). Through analysis of their artworks, I argue that the identity of “Claude Cahun” is not only a self re-imagination, but is also created from a gaze of desire from Moore through the camera. Examples of Cahun and Moore’s collaborative projects like Aveux non Avenus (1930) and A Soldier without a Name (1941-1943) provide instances of both women using their individual skills, writing and illustration, to support the other and create a successful final product. Through this research I aim to position Moore as an important component to Cahun’s falsely titled “self-portraits,” and note that their relationship allowed Cahun to fully realize her constructed identity. Building on recent scholarship, this thesis asserts that Moore took an active role in creating the persona viewers see as Claude Cahun.