Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits

by Loren Cameron

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.

Genres: Transgender, Queer, LGBT, Nonfiction, Gender, Photography, Art

100 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 1996

Reviews

[Imogen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The language Loren Cameron was using when this came out feels very, very dated right now, to the point that you'd probably call somebody out and have a confrontation if they used it in 2009. But, I mean, instead of just being kind of a faded photograph or whatever, that actually throws into relief what an intense time the nineties were to be a trans man: how few your role models were, how uncharted the life in front of you looked, how free and constrained you were, socially, at the same time.

Plus, there's no way to deny the defiant charge running through all these photos. Man. Recommended.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The strengths of this 1996 book are its photos of female-to-male transsexuals. The head shots and nude full-body self-portraits (artistic rather than prurient) of author/photographer Loren Cameron segue into a section of head shots and bios of other trans males, covering a range of ages. One short section has photos showing the aftermath of top surgery and bottom surgery (metoidioplasty and phalloplasty). For me, the most interesting section showcases photos taken before and after transitioning--the effects of testosterone therapy are pretty amazing. This book is a fascinating window on some very interesting men who happened to be born women.

[Javier · Rating 3 out of 5]

removed a star b/c i recall finding this book fatphobic by omission (it's been quite a while, so i'm not 100% on my memory).

[Andreas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very beautiful book.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an historically and artistically important book into lives that until quite recently were invisible to the cishetero world. For myself, as a transmasculine person, it is at once deeply triggering and empowering. Hearing and especially seeing trans men going through the same struggles I have prior to, during, and after transition opens a sense of community and continuity that is lacking in my daily life as someone living in a rural area.

A note for readers, particularly trans folk: this book was published in 1996, & depicts the lives of trans men from the 1950s up until that time. Some of the language used--particularly the difference between transsexual and transgender--has evolved since then. The surgical options have likewise evolved, and a reader considering bottom surgery especially should not be daunted solely by the discomfort expressed by certain subjects here.

[Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is groundbreaking for its depection of trans mens bodies long before anyone else had a book like this out there. Unfortunatly it is not the best. The photography is fairly straight forward, its organization is not very interesting, only its subject hold any interest. The genital shots are useful in an instructive manner, but fall flat as a creative work, and borrow far to much from a medicalized model that are the only previous documentation of trans mens bodies. Loren is a better speaker and educator on trans masculine experience than he is a photographer. This comes no where near the caliber of Sublime Mutations by Del Lagrace Volcano. This review does not speak for Lorens later work, just what is in this book.

[Elijah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of times when I read other trans men’s experiences it feels like for a minute, despite even decades separating us, we are all the same man with the same experience. This is one of those times. The words feel like I might’ve written them. And the portraits are incredibly powerful.
Now if only I could find a physical copy of this book that doesn’t cost three to eight hundred dollars.

[Aaron Israel · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome!

[Paulo Regalos · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the reviews, I have to laugh at all of the youngins and their hypercritical responses---yet, none indicate that they themselves are photographers, writers, or even transgender, which demonstrates a lack of knowledge about our history and life before the internet. I'm a transman who medically transitioned during the 1980s and one of the transelder transmen in San Francisco. Rex (Loren Cameron) was a reserved, deep thinking, and creative man. His photography of transmen demonstrates where we were at in the 1990s before the internet. Dr. Michael Broenstein performed Rex's chest surgery and mine as well. We were numbers 2 and 3 at the beginning of Brownstein's "male chest reconstruction" pursuits. One of the most groundbreaking decisions that Rex had with this book was to show before and after photos of transmen. Many notable transmen were photographed for this project of before and after such as Jamison Green, PhD. Some of us weren't ready yet to offer up our readily identifiable likenesses in photos that announced we were transsexuals; I passed as I had a wife and child so I had to consider their safety. I'm grateful that Rex decided to pursue his chronicling of our images and I proudly keep a personal signed copy of it on my bookshelf to show others what it was like before anyone knew that transmen existed. We were all sorry to learn of Rex's passing in November 2022; he had suffered from heart failure for at least 5 years.

[E.T. Bowen]

Cameron Loren the man that you are….

This was fascinating to flip through in 2023. The autobiographical text segments were a bit messy & confusing at times. Also, some of the staged photos were so on-the-nose that I had to laugh. But it’s all forgivable. At the end of the day, this was meant to be a documentation of humanity. Nothing more, nothing less.

With that said- Cameron is at his best when he’s in front of the camera, simply showing off. Whether he’s flexing naked or smizing in a suit, his sexuality comes through really beautifully in these photos. I’ll admit that I’m also a bit biased in this regard, however…

Last but not least: I was particularly engrossed (and moved) by Cameron’s and Kayt’s reflections on their relationship. They provide some bittersweet insights into early T4T dynamics after the proliferation of GAC- many of which echo with truth today.

“We are so much alike that it’s painful when we are different.”

[Ranger Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

always a pleasure to know more tboy history. and as always i wish i couldve read this back when i was starting, and maybe before. there is really no way to rate a book like this so…5 stars on default and in tboy solidarity or whatever.

[PF · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful and brilliant collection of before and after images with brief poetic interviews and stories from persons who identify as transgender illustrating their transformation.

[Terran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dated, but still powerful representation.
This one focuses specifically on trans men in the nineties.

[Kaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

the photos of the author and his partner gave me chills like nothing ever before.

[Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read just for research for uni, but man, its soo good. Won't lie, I shed a few tears

[Oscar · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I want the world to know the force of their beauty."

How will I ever emotionally recover from this

[Vreer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Early trans masc photo book and autobiographical story by the late Loren Cameron, possibly the sweetwst body builder ever

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars because of the trans cop (ew). Otherwise pretty cool for its time.

[Garrett Dexter · Rating 5 out of 5]

<3

[Aiden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feeling really lucky I was able to borrow a copy of this, and wish it would get a repress! This is FTM trans-masc history: a small glimpse of the lives of trans men in the last 80s early 90s.

[Will Mueller · Rating 5 out of 5]

so awesome…

[danielle r castro · Rating 5 out of 5]

My dear friend Loren, a master photographer, made me feel loved, appreciated, respected, and seen. This book was a significant source of inspiration and support for many of us in the community. It serves as a reflection of the prevailing cultural climate and the way we were often perceived during that era. However, it is important to acknowledge that his remarkable contributions to our progress and the artistic brilliance of his photographs cannot be overlooked. I deeply miss him.
-dani

[Charlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't see the hype. Seeing that it's out of print now, I pined and waited to get this at the local library.

I was sorely disappointed, it was little more than drivel with pictures, honestly.

For it to be so highly esteemed, I thought there'd be some substance, but really there wasn't.

Get it from a library before actually paying money for it.

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is an awesome book! i originally bought it for my ftm exboyfriend but kept it in the divorce. loren camerons transformation is incredible. the before and after photos are freaking amazing! everyone should take a look at this book. it takes only a few minutes- and you will be amazed!

[Sandra Bassett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is THE book on FTM (female to male) tranformation in photographs. I have met Loren Cameron and he is amazing. The dichotomy between maleness and femaleness in seeing FTM's that chose not to fully have surgery (like Cameron) is very interesting.

[Shannon T.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

an interesting collection of portraits. it's definitely dated a bit, but pretty groundbreaking for when it was released. i wish some of the commentary was a little less sexist, but again, peoples ideas have changed a lot since the book was released.

[Incredulous Harrumpherous · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loren Cameron is extremely self-involved, misogynistic and arrogant but, I enjoy the idea of his art/mission.

[JT · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a lot of reading, more pictures.

[Kameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just re-read this (the first time was 6 years ago), and it's an amazing historical document and photographic essay of an ever growing community. Much different for me the second time around...

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say that I enjoyed the photographs more than the actual text that accompanied it. The photographs were beautiful, though.