The Dyke Show by JEB (Joan E. Biren)

JEB (Joan E. Biren) has been influential within LGBTQI+ communities and the wider public by actively challenging the representation of lesbians, the way that we understand photographic history, and how we speak about image-making. Her first book, Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians, originally published in 1979, was reissued in 2021 by Anthology Editions. JEB’s second book, Making a Way: Lesbians Out Front will be reissued in 2025. The Dyke Show, described as “an astounding compendium of lesbian imagery and ideas,” was restored and digitized with a new live narration by JEB in 2023.

In the 1970s, JEB was a part of two lesbian collectives: The Furies, which produced an historic newspaper, and Moonforce Media, which distributed feminist films from 1975 to 1980. In the early 1990s, JEB transitioned from making photographic stills and slideshows to filmmaking. JEB’s photographic work is represented in many collections including the National Portrait Gallery, the Getty Museum, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, and the Academy of Arts in Berlin. JEB, now 80 years old, lives surrounded by chosen family and occasionally tries to retire from photography and filmmaking. Her plan is never to retire from social justice activism.

Amina Cruz was born and lives in Los Angeles. She got her start in photography at 13, when a family member left their camera behind. Cruz hitchhiked around the country before deciding to move to New York City, where she earned her BFA in photography from Parsons School of Design. In 2023, she received a MFA from UCLA.

Cruz’s photography practice is profoundly personal and collaborative. She highlights the intersections between people and landscapes crossed by gender, gentrification, and migration. She’s invested in archiving the contemporary, often emergent, subcultures that arise from these spaces of contact, seeking moments that ask questions of purpose and belonging. Her work is in various private collections including CEMA at the University of California Santa Barbara, Self Help Graphics Archive, Loyola Marymount University, and the Getty Museum.