Finding aid to the Shelby Sharie Cohen Photograph Portfolio

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Finding aid to the Shelby Sharie Cohen Photograph Portfolio

GLC 205

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Table of contents

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.

Collection Contents