Best known for riveting photographic self-portraits that seem eerily ahead of their time, Claude Cahun (1894–1954) has attracted an almost cultlike following. Acting out diverse identities—both male and female—in scenes ranging from severely simple to elaborately staged, Cahun was a pioneer of the gender-bending role-playing now seen in works by artists such as Cindy Sherman (born the year Cahun died), Nikki S. Lee, and many others. Don’t Kiss Me, the first comprehensive volume on Cahun, fea­tures many previously unpublished photo­graphs and drawings, illuminating not only Cahun's work but also that of partner, Marcel Moore (1892–1972), and their intense col­laboration.

An extraordinary couple who worked and lived together for more than forty years, Cahun (a pseudonym for Lucy Schwob) and Moore (Suzanne Malherbe) created images and writings of startling originality. Avid participants in the cultural avant-garde in Montparnasse during the 1920s and ’30s, they ultimately moved to Jersey, in the Channel Islands (the only part of Great Britain to be occupied by the Germans dur­ing World War II).

In Don’t Kiss Me, seven international authors examine Cahun and Moore’s lives and art-making; their theatrical, literary, and performance activities; their relation­ship with the Surrealist movement; and Cahun’s photographic technique. The book also includes the first thorough account of the Resistance operations, trial, imprison­ment, and attempted suicides of the two artists during the Occupation. The extensive illustrations encompass not only Cahun’s iconic images but also previously unseen photographs, manuscripts, and ephemera, as well as drawings by Moore. The wealth of new material in this compelling survey makes it essential for all those with an interest in Cahun and Moore, photography, gender studies, or Surrealism.

Edited by Louise Downie

Essays by Katharine Conley, Gen Doy, Claire Follain, Tirza True Latimer, Jennifer Shaw, James Stevenson, and Krisine Von Oehsen

Louise Downie is curator of art for the Jersey Heritage Trust which holds the Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore collections.