Biren, Joan E.
Variant namesJoan E. Biren (b.1944) grew up in the Washington, D.C. area, graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1966, and pursued graduate training in political science at Oxford University and communications at American University. Biren joined the women's liberation movement in Washington D.C. in 1969. Coming to feminism with her New Left political science background, Biren was particularly involved in the formation of feminist theory. Biren and others (including Rita Mae Brown and Charlotte Bunch) formed a lesbian-separatist collective, the Furies, in 1971. Though the collective was short-lived, it had, through its publications, a significant impact on the strategies of the women's movement. Biren taught herself photography because "I needed to see images of lesbians." She is best known for her photographic portraits, some of the earliest documents of late 20th-century lesbian life. Realizing the need for affirming images and self- expression outside of traditional patriarchal language, her work has appeared in off our backs, The Washington Blade, Gay Community News, and on countless LP album and book covers. Biren published two ground-breaking collections of her photography: "Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians" (1979) and "Making A Way: Lesbians Out Front" (1987). In the 1990s, Beginning in 1979 Biren toured the country presenting her slide show "Lesbian Images in Photography, 1850 to the present" to women's groups. Other shows followed and gradually Biren moved from still photography to filmmaking. She documented the 1987 and 1993 gay and lesbian marches on Washington in For Love and For Life and A Simple Matter of Justice and in 2003, an award-winning film on lesbian pioneers Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, "No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon."
From the guide to the Joan E. Biren Papers MS 587., 1944-2011 (ongoing), (Sophia Smith Collection)
Joan Elisabeth Biren, also known as JEB, was born in Washington, D.C. on July 13, 1944. She has gained recognition as an outstanding documentary artist, and for over twenty years has been photographing, publishing and producing videos that chronicle the lives and times of lesbian and gay people.As a video producer for the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation, JEB was responsible for sending a live six-camera switched feed to giant screens on the Mall and around the world via satellite. Many commentators noted that this innovative use of the technology was brilliantly accomplished. JEB produced and wrote "A Simple Matter of Justice," the official video of the March. JEB is the author of two groundbreaking volumes of photography. "Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians (1979)" is the pioneering photographic book that made lesbian existence and courage visible as never before. "Making a Way: Lesbians Out Front (1987)" is a vigorous affirmation of lesbian lives that dramatically portrays 125 women. Biren has a B.A. with honors in political science from Mt. Holyoke College and an M.A. in communications from the American University. After three years in a doctoral program at Oxford University in England, she returned to the U.S. and taught herself photography working in a camera store and on a small-town newspaper
From the description of Joan E. Biren photograph collection, 1971-1991. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 649696564
Role | Title | Holding Repository | |
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creatorOf | Joan E. Biren Papers MS 587., 1944-2011 (ongoing) | Sophia Smith Collection | |
referencedIn | Deming, Barbara, 1917-1984. Papers: Series I-III, 1908-1985 (inclusive). | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Papers, 1908-1985 | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
creatorOf | Joan E. Biren Queer Film Museum Collection | National Museum of American History (U.S.). Archives Center | |
creatorOf | Joan E. Biren photograph collection, 1971-1991. | George Washington University. Library. Special Collections Division | |
referencedIn | Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace & Justice. Records, 1980-1995 (inclusive). | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Visible for a change : contemporary lesbian artists, U.S.A. | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Records, 1980-1995 | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America |
Role | Title | Holding Repository |
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Filters:
Relation | Name | |
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associatedWith | Adam, Margie | person |
associatedWith | BARBARA DEMING, 1917-1984 | person |
associatedWith | Brown, Rita Mae | person |
associatedWith | Christian, Meg | person |
associatedWith | Deming, Barbara, 1917 | person |
associatedWith | Gartrell, Nanette | person |
associatedWith | Hammer, Barbara | person |
associatedWith | Helaine Victoria Press | person |
associatedWith | Jackson, James E., 1914- | person |
associatedWith | J. E. B. | person |
associatedWith | Lorde, Audre | person |
associatedWith | Lyon, Phyllis | person |
associatedWith | Martin, Del | person |
associatedWith | Mosbacher, Dee | person |
associatedWith | National Abortion Rights Action League | corporateBody |
associatedWith | National Endowment for the Arts | corporateBody |
associatedWith | National Organization for Women | corporateBody |
associatedWith | National Women's Health Network (U.S.) | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Near, Holly | person |
associatedWith | Olivia Records | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Pratt, Minnie Bruce | person |
associatedWith | Voices of Feminism Oral History Project | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Warhol, Andy 1928-1987. | person |
associatedWith | Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace & Justice. | corporateBody |
Place Name | Admin Code | Country | |
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Washington (D.C.) |
Subject |
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AIDS (Disease) |
Antinuclear movement |
Artists |
Breast Cancer |
Civil rights movements |
Collectivism |
Demonstrations |
Documentary films |
Female friendship |
Feminism |
Feminism |
Feminism |
Feminism and art |
Feminists |
Feminist spirituality |
Gay college students |
Gay liberation movement |
Gay men |
Gay rights |
Gays |
Gays |
Gays in motion pictures |
Gender identity |
Goddess religion |
Hispanic American women |
Homophobia in sports |
Indian women |
International Women's Day |
Jewish lesbians |
Jewish women |
Lesbian activists |
Lesbian artists |
Lesbian communities |
Lesbian feminism |
Lesbianism |
Lesbianism |
Lesbianism |
Lesbian physicians |
Lesbians |
Lesbians |
Lesbians |
Lesbians |
Lesbians in motion pictures |
Nuclear disarmament |
Peace movements |
Peace movements |
Photography of women |
Pornography |
Protest movements |
Women |
Women |
Women |
Women and peace |
Women and religion |
Women artists |
Women in mass media |
Women photographers |
Women's periodicals, American |
Women's periodicals, American |
Women's rights |
Women's studies |
Occupation |
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Activity |
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Person
Active 1971
Active 1991