Sex. Death. Transcendence

"Over the years, I saw that the body must be examined, moved, re-engaged, re-found, re-addressed because it is such a powerful route to intimate photographs and a surreal contact with the great beyond." —Linda Troeller

Linda Troeller uses the camera like a tool to activate her own personal shamanistic ritual. A producer of self-portraiture her entire life and now in her seventies, Troeller identifies the moment of making a photograph as one of deep realization, spiritual connection, and even transformation. Each self-image allows her a more complete understanding of her being. Sex. Death. Transcendence. joins together a selection of these self-portraits spanning her life—in black and white and color, with traditional film and iPhone cameras—that mark her existence in time. Troeller uses her own aging body and by doing so challenges our notions of what we deem desirable as a culture. Troeller flips her own image on the viewer along with all of its meaning and power and forces us to take a deeper look within ourselves. Darcey Steinke’s insightful essay contextualizes Troeller’s individualistic approach to photography.