J. Aiden Simon

Print Exchange Redecoration

2010-03-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

I recently redecorated my bedroom, primarily with photographs from last year's print exchange. I love looking at my wall now. Clockwise from the top left, Dave Vu, Zev Schmidt, Kottie Gaydos, a clock from my sister, Georgi Ivanov, Kottie Gaydos, a postcard for Margaret DeLange, Kottie Gaydos, unknown (my parents bought it from a girl in my first photo class, and I can't decipher the signature), and one of my own. Thanks for making my room look wonderful.

Cris and Sophia being photographed and interviewed

2010-02-07T19:07:00.000-08:00

This is a new clip from Maite's documentary about my work and transition. I was photographing Cris (pregnant) and Sophia at 7 in the morning (the photo is way below, I posted it a while back). They are amazing.

Family

2010-01-28T09:16:00.000-08:00

This is my sister and her boyfriend. As I was getting ready to take their photo, my dad reached over to fix my sister's hair. It was such a beautiful and bizarre moment. I usually refuse to be the family photographer, but my mom had asked me to take some family portraits for her birthday, and this one is, by far, my favorite. I love taking photographs right before people are ready.

TransMasculinities Opening

2010-01-25T08:30:00.000-08:00

A few images from the opening of TransMasculinities,

a show at the Red Gallery in Melbourne, which was curated by Jess Moss.

The show is part of the Midsumma Celebrating Queer Culture festival.

One of my two pieces from the Member series hangs on the far right.

Someone checking out Claire Henry's work 'no skin', next to Amos Macs B&W images.

Attending artists: melly niotakis, Gabe M Thomson, Jacqui Brown, LW, and the curator, Jess Moss

The crowd pouring out the door!

Images courtesy of TJ Bateson. Wish I could have been there.

"Expecting"

2010-01-09T14:19:00.000-08:00

This is an image from the series I'm working on called Expecting. I'm not exactly sure where it's going at this point, so I'm going to refrain from posting all of the images. It's a series of "pregnant" men, and it has started going in so many directions that I'm taking a break from shooting, and instead I am reading for a while.

2010-01-07T13:29:00.000-08:00

When I was preparing to photograph Drew and Maggie, I insisted on taking a test Polaroid of Maite. She's been documenting me this semester- following me while I photograph 'pregnant' men and spending hours talking about gender.

Midsumma Celebrating Queer Culture

2010-01-06T08:26:00.000-08:00

BOOOOOKS!!

2010-01-05T13:35:00.000-08:00

I organized a shelf of my books on gender and sexuality. I checked out three more from the library. The other day, I ordered six more from Amazon, and I can't wait for them to get here! I'm not going to need a bookend anymore.

One of the books I got from the library is Politics of Masculinities: Men in Movements by Michael Messner, which has been really excellent so far. Messner says that men's movements position themselves between three points- institutionalized privilege, costs of masculinity, and differences/ inequalities among men. Each of the groups is positioned somewhere in the triad, and is focused more towards one point or side.

Amazon.com Widgets

Once Upon a Time, Men Wore the Pants

2010-01-03T11:47:00.000-08:00

A friend sent this to me- it's the new Docker's campaign (scratch that- Docker's Man-ifesto [no, I'm not kidding]). If this isn't enough, check out the facebook page. It's time to wear the pants.

He's Just Not That Into You

2010-01-01T19:11:00.000-08:00

Ever since taking Masculinity, I've been consciously watching movies to pay attention to gender roles (which means I'm often watching silly drama movies). Tonight I watched He's Just Not That Into You. It started out being a movie about how women do certain things and men do certain things. Gigi was too needy and attached to guys she went on dates with (or met at the bar). Beth breaks up with Neil because he doesn't believe in marriage. Gigi meets Alex, who explains the way men work. Gigi throws herself at him- saying he gave her all the signs that they were in a relationship.
Towards the end of the movie, all of the characters confronted one another about what they wanted. Suddenly, the movie was about consent (not just sexually, but in terms of where the relationship was going). Beth tells Neil that he doesn't have to marry her, he just has to be committed. Alex tells Gigi he wants to date her, and she begins to tell him off. She's being firm with him, and then Alex kisses her. And then they're dating. And Neil proposes to Beth. The movie would have been great if it had ended ten minutes earlier, instead of being a happily-ever-after movie, where people communicate and then change their minds and assume they know what their partner really wants.

The Decade in Masculinity

2010-01-01T15:39:00.000-08:00

This is a great article about trends in masculinity (and the fabrication of gender expression options for men) throughout the decade, from the Washington City Paper. I found it on Homegrown Boi's tumblr.

"Think boys are simply born into their masculine gender role? Consider, for a moment, how quickly the cultural norms of acceptable maleness can change. The past decade of masculine fads saw cultural expressions of manliness range from finely-groomed boy bands to shlumpy stoners to blowed-out “guidos.” The versions of masculinity that gained popularity in the aughts saw an infusion of traditionally feminine traits—along with a heavy dose of hyper-masculine compensation. Seven of the decade’s enduring expressions of masculinity..."

How to Make a Baby

2009-12-27T16:16:00.000-08:00

$100,000 for an artist under 35

2009-12-25T08:40:00.000-08:00

The Future Generation Art Prize established by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation is a worldwide contemporary art prize to discover, recognize and provide long-term support to a future generation of artists.

Artists around the world, without restriction of gender, nationality, race or artistic medium may enter the competition through online application.

20 shortlisted artists will be selected to show their work in an exhibition at the PinchukArtCentre (Kiev). These artists will be judged by an international Jury who will award one main prize and up to five special prizes.

The first prize will receive $100,000.

2009-12-13T18:45:00.000-08:00

This is my series of pregnant men so far. The working title is "Expecting".

I had a critique with Laurel Ptak today, she gave me some good advice.

2009-12-05T13:13:00.000-08:00

I did a shoot with a "pregnant" guy and his girlfriend in the studio. I have several images that I am interested in- which ones would you print? I printed the fourth image on the second contact sheet, but I'm not sure about it.

MICA's Juried Undergrad Show

2009-11-13T14:43:00.001-08:00

The 2009 Juried Undergraduate Exhibition is open through Sunday.

I have posted work in the show from the photo department.

All pieces are for sale.

Kottie Gaydos

Aiden Simon- Merit Award

Rachel Hart (left) and Elle Perez (middle)- Honorable Mention

Michelle Scott

Lynley Bernstein (left) and Alex Larsen (right)

Danielle Cirqui

Caroline Van Sicklin

Georgi Ivanov

Rachel Curtis

Jason Taylor (sold)

Men Who Breastfeed

2009-11-12T14:02:00.000-08:00

TransMasculinities

2009-10-24T07:06:00.000-07:00

TransMasculinities
red gallery
Melbourne, Australia
22 January - 6 February 2010
Opening Friday 22nd January 6-8pm

Off the back of Transmen Translated in 2008, artist and curator Jesslyn Moss presents TransMasculinities, a major Midsumma group show featuring photography, painting, drawing and video by eight artists from around Australia, the UK and the United States. This exhibition explores new models of masculinity and offers a rare insight into the physical and psychological aspects of transgender butch, gender queer and transmasculine experiences. A tasty morsel in the Midsumma visual arts program not to be missed!!

L. Weingarten (St.Louis USA)
J. Aiden Simon (Baltimore USA)
Gabriel M Thomson (Castlemaine VIC)
Mellly Niotakis (Qld)
Jacqui Brown (Melbourne)
Claire Henry (UK)
Jess Moss (Melbourne)
Rohan Spong (Melbourne)

That's So Gay: No Homo

2009-10-22T08:36:00.001-07:00

Life is Short.

2009-10-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

Pregnant Man Number One

2009-10-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

The first in my series of pregnant men.

Why do you photograph?

2009-09-02T14:26:00.000-07:00

"What usually happens for me, in my photographic process, is that I photograph things I don't understand, or things that I don't really know anything about, and I try to exercise through the camera- both for myself, and then, of course, for the audience at large."
-Jana Marcus

Why do you photograph?

CALL FOR ENTRIES Tranny Fest

2009-08-02T09:51:00.000-07:00

From Fresh Meat

San Francisco's Transgender Film Festival seeks entries for its 2009 Festival, November 6th and 7th. The festival accepts narrative, documentary, experimental, animated films and music videos. All work should be created by transgender/genderqueer people. All work submitted this year must be 10 minutes or under!

Tranny Fest was founded in 1997 and is the nation's first transgender/genderqueer film festival. In the 12 years since, we have exhibited groundbreaking, provocative, outrageous, courageous, moving and innovative works that show the complexity of lives lived on the transgender/ genderqueer spectrum. Tranny Fest is presented by Tranny Fest and Fresh Meat Productions.

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: October 1, 2009

Early submissions are encouraged.
There is no entry fee.

FORMAT

We will exhibit works only on DVD (North American format).

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR FILM

1. Download the Tranny Fest Entry Form (to download: click on link or right click on link and select 'save' to your computer). Fill out the form and print a copy.
2. Send your entry form, and one copy of your work (DVD only) to:
Tranny Fest
c/o Fresh Meat Productions
P.O. Box 460670
San Francisco, CA
94146-0670
USA
3. Email a 300-dpi (high resolution) JPG image for your film to info@trannyfest.com
4. You can include a self-addressed, stamped postcard if you'd like notification that your submission was received (or you may request email notification using the email above).

GUIDELINES

1. Please include all required materials when submitting your entry (All work must be less than 10 minutes long! No exceptions).
2. We cannot return any submitted materials.
3. We will notify you if your work is accepted by October 10th.
4. Once a film is submitted, it may not be withdrawn for any reason.
5. For questions, contact: info@trannyfest.com

International Queer Writing Competition

2009-07-28T04:42:00.000-07:00

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE QUEER TO ENTER HERE

Don't miss out! Entries are coming in fast and strong for Chroma's 3rd International Queer Writing Competition.

Judges this year are the acclaimed writers Thomas Glave (short story cetagory) and Cherry Smyth (poetry category). Short stories up to 5,000 words, poems up to 50 lines. There are also prizes for the best trans story (Transfabulous Prize) and the best piece of flash fiction (Velvet Flash Fiction Prize).

Deadline: 7 September 2009.

Check out all the details on our website: www.chromajournal.co.uk/competition

Interview with Katastrophe

2009-07-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

More Gay & Lesbian Video At LogoOnline.com

Logo interviewed Katastrophe, a rapper who is trans. I agree with 100% of what he has to say, and he says it very well. So glad to hear someone saying all of these things. Listen to "Man Enough".