Join us at ICP for the next installment of the fall Naomi Rosenblum ICP Talks Photographer lecture series featuring activist, filmmaker, and photographer JEB. JEB will discuss the trajectory of her work from the 1970s to the present day and the ever-present intersection of politics and art making.
This program is being offered both in person at ICP, located on NYC's Lower East Side, and online. Current ICP students and faculty of the One-Year Certificate programs are automatically enrolled and invited to attend all lectures.
About the Series
The 2025-2026 Naomi Rosenblum ICP Talks Photographer Lecture Series is made possible through generous support from the Rosenblum Family.
ICP is thrilled to honor Naomi Rosenblum’s contribution to the field and to further her life’s work through this lecture series. Naomi Rosenblum was one of the leading photography historians of her generation and the author of A World History of Photography and A History of Women Photographers. The 2025-2026 Naomi Rosenblum ICP Talks Photographer Lecture Series is made possible through generous support from the Rosenblum Family.
About the Speakers
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 was reissued in July 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. This year it has been presented at the J. Paul Getty Museum, the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian, and Le Bal in Paris.
In the 1970s, JEB was 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. Her award-winning films on LGBTQI+ history are available through Frameline distribution. JEB’s photographic work is represented in many collections including the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, the Getty Museum, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis and the Academy of Arts in Berlin, Germany. JEB, now 81 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.
© (JEB) Joan E. Biren Self-Portrait, 1981 from Making A Way
