Finding aid to the Shelby Sharie Cohen Photograph Portfolio
Finding aid prepared by Tim Wilson
James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 557-4400
info@sfpl.org
2023
Title: Shelby Sharie Cohen Photograph Portfolio
Date (inclusive): 1984-2016
Date (bulk): (bulk 1984-1988)
Identifier/Call Number: GLC 205
Creator:
Cohen, Shelby
Physical Description:
20 Photographic Prints
(11-inches x 14-inches)
Contributing Institution:
James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA, 94102
(415) 557-4400
info@sfpl.org
Abstract: This selection of twenty black-and-white images demonstrates the range of Cohen's work and illustrates the diversity of activities
and experiences of lesbians in the San Francisco Bay Area. The photos show a sex- and body-positivity that was influential
within the community as a result of her work's exposure through
On Our Backs, the
Bay Area Reporter and other publications. Cohen was one of the only photographers at the time who was also involved with the beginning of the
global lesbian leather movement that started in San Francisco in the 1980s and 1990s.
Physical Location: The collection is stored onsite.
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in
English.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research during Photo Desk hours: Tuesdays 1-5 pm, Thursdays 1-5 pm, and Saturdays 10-12 noon and
1-5 pm.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright retained by Shelby Cohen. Fair use permitted.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Shelby Sharie Cohen Photograph Portfolio (GLC 205), LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchase, 2019.
Biographical / Historical
Shelby Sharie Cohen (nee Shari Cohen) was born on March 27, 1959. She is a self-described butch lesbian self-portrait artist
and photographer. Her work documents San Francisco's lesbian, BDSM, erotic and queer communities during the feminist sex wars
and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s.
She was one of the primary photographers for
On Our Backs: Entertainment for the Adventurous Lesbian, the first to feature lesbian erotica in the United States. Her work has also been published in the
Bay Area Reporter,
San Francisco Chronicle,
San Francisco Examiner,
The Sentinel,
Coming Up Newspaper,
East Bay Times, and others. Some of her work has been published under the names Shari Cohen, and Shelby Cohen. She has exhibited across
the country and her work has been sold through Swann Auction Galleries.
Cohen currently lives in Northern California and focuses on portrait photography and creating new Queer photography of the
present younger generation for galleries.
Scope and Contents
This selection of twenty black-and-white images demonstrates the range of Cohen's work and illustrates the diversity of activities
and experiences of lesbians in the San Francisco Bay Area. The photos also show a sex- and body-positivity that was influential
within the community as a result of her work's exposure through
On Our Backs, the
Bay Area Reporter and other publications.
Photographs include participants at the 1986 Gay Games in San Francisco, members of the lesbian motorcycle contingent Dykes
on Bikes at San Francisco Pride parades, portraits of women working, a photo shoot of lesbians for
On Our Backs, portraits of butch and femme lesbians, portraits of some famous people and their families, International Ms. Leather contestants,
and a performance portrait for FABLED ASP. There is also a self-portrait of Cohen with her pregnant lover, and a portrait
of Cohen taken 28 years later by Marie-Josee Mont-Reynaud.
Arrangement
The photographs are arranged in chronological order with descriptive notes provided by the photographer.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Lesbians -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area.
Parades -- California -- San Francisco.
Cohen, Shelby -- Archives
Folder 1, photograph 1
Kitty Tsui, a Cantonese-American lesbian, with panda tattoo and clenched fist,
1984
General
Kitty is a Cantonese-American author, poet, actor, and bodybuilder. She competed in Gay Games II, and was a model for
On Our Backs
.
Folder 1, photograph 2
Ellen Thompson (Women at Work series),
1984
General
Thompson was the first woman fire fighter in Santa Rosa, California. Photographed for the Academy of Art portrait series,
1984.
Folder 1, photograph 3
Lesbians Are Great (Haight Ashbury, San Francisco, CA),
1984
General
On Our Backs
photo shoot. Features: Bobbie Wilkes : known as "Tattoo Blue", Debbie, Sky, Vic and Shadow.
Folder 1, photograph 4
Portrait of a white woman wearing a hard hat and toolbelt at a construction site (Women at Work series),
1984
General
Worked on tearing down the San Francisco Post Office on Main Street or 2nd Street. She was the only female in her trade at
the time. Photographed for the Academy of Art portrait series, 1984.
Folder 1, photograph 5
Portrait of an African-American woman leaning on a doorframe (Women at Work series),
1984 or 1985
General
One of the few black lesbian plumbers in the 1980s in Berkeley, California.
Folder 1, photograph 6
Exit Hey [Adele Prandini (on left), director of Theatre Rhinoceros, and stagehand Libby (on right)],
1985
General
Numerous San Francisco playwrights premiered work at Theatre Rhinoceros, including C. D. Arnold, Cal Youmans, Philip Real,
and Dan Curzon. San Francisco Bay Guardian critic Robert Chesley's first one-act play, "Hell, I Love You" was produced at
Theatre Rhino in 1980, as was his 1984 play Night Sweat, the first full-length play about AIDS. That same year, Theatre Rhino
commissioned and produced the ground-breaking "The AIDS Show: Artists Involved with Death and Survival." Lesbian writers who
performed or produced plays at Theatre Rhino include Pat Bond, Jane Chambers, and Adele Prandini.
Folder 1, photograph 7
Gay Games II (San Francisco, CA). Women's contingent at opening ceremonies, Kezar Stadium,
1986
Folder 1, photograph 8
Gay Games II (San Francisco, CA). Women's physique competition medal winners,
1986
Folder 1, photograph 9
Gay Games II (San Francisco, CA). Group of shirtless lesbians wearing their medals and cheering at Kezar Stadium,
1986
Folder 1, photograph 10
Susie Bright, shirtless with vibrators,
1986
General
Created for
On Our Backs, (volume 3, number 2, page 6, Fall 1986 issue), "Rub-A Dub Gumbo" story by Susie Bright, "Toys for Us!"
Folder 2, photograph 11
Nancy Kinney and Deborah Sundahl,
1987
General
They were the owners of
On Our Backs. They also created Fatale Video, the first erotic lesbian productions. The photo was taken at the first San Francisco International
Leather Contest, 1987.
Folder 2, photograph 12
International Ms. Leather contestants,
1987
General
Ms. Leather events have been held in San Francisco since 1981. The first formal International Ms. Leather (IMsL) convention
took place in 1987. The first International Ms. Leather was Judy Tallwing McCarthey. Since 1999, the convention has also included
a Ms. Bootblack (IMsBB) contest.
Folder 2, photograph 13
Wheel of Womyn [six (6) nude women laying in a circle on a beach],
1987
General
This photo was included with a photo spread that Cohen created for
On Our Backs. Three of the women were pregnant in this photo; all done with artificial insemination.
Folder 2, photograph 14
Pride Parade. Dykes on Bikes contingent,
1987
General
Cohen is pictured on the back of the motorcycle with arm raised. Photographed by a fellow Academy of Art student.
Folder 2, photograph 15
Two (2) women in leather jackets on motorcycles outside Maud's Bar, 937 Cole St., San Francisco,
1988
General
The driver of the motorcycle is Brazilian and one of the Erotic Dancers at Amelia's. She danced for Rack Productions many
times.
Folder 2, photograph 16
Self-portrait of Shelby Sharie Cohen with her pregnant lover, Janet Seldon,
1988
General
This photograph is also published in a calendar for
On Our Backs. Janet Seldon is identified in a
Bay Area Reporter story, December 1, 1988.
Folder 2, photograph 17
Terry Anderson, Armistead Maupin and child,
1994
General
Photo was taken at an AIDS fundraiser in San Francisco. It could have been an hour before the AIDS Walk-a-thon or the AIDS
Dance-a-thon, Saturday, March 12, 1994, Moscone Center, benefitting Mobilzation Against AIDS, San Francisco AIDS Foundation,
and others.
Folder 2, photograph 18
Three (3) couples with women in lingerie and erotic poses,
1996
General
Kataka Gara (sex club) for
Spectator Magazine, 12/5/1996. Kataka had the only women's sex club during this time.
Folder 2, photograph 19
FABLED ASP . AXIS Dance Company,
2010
General
FABLeD ASP is an acronym for Fabulous Activist Bay Area Lesbians with Disabilities: A Storytelling Project.
Folder 2, photograph 20
Portrait of Shelby Cohen by Marie-Josee Mont-Reynaud,
2016
General
MJ Mont-Reynaud was born on October 1, 1985 in Palo Alto, California, and was a resident of Oakland. She passed away unexpectedly
on Friday, June 9, 2017.
