Shelby Sharie Cohen
Master Woman Photographer
Cultural Archivist | Photojournalist
By day, Shelby Sharie Cohen was the official photographer for Theatre Rhinoceros — ground zero for gay theater during the height of the AIDS crisis. By night, she turned her lens to the underground: lesbian sex-positive scenes, kink clubs, and radical queer spaces. Immersed in the culture she documented, Shelby didn’t just witness a movement — she lived it, camera in hand.
Shelby Sharie Cohen (b. 1962) has spent over 40 years documenting lesbian life, sex-positive culture, and queer resistance in San Francisco and beyond. A graduate of the Academy of Art in 1984, she began shooting for On Our Backs in 1985, just as lesbian erotica was gaining a radical voice.
Shelby was also the staff photographer for Theatre Rhinoceros, capturing over 40 queer productions during the AIDS era. Her archive now includes more than 10,500 negatives and 700 prints — most of which have never been seen until now.
“Being a portrait artist is a large part of who I am. During the 1980s, my work represented a community of queer women. Their self-confidence and love — for themselves and others — shine through my photography. We were wild, open, and very sexual.”
Shelby Sharie Cohen
Career Highlights
1984 – Graduated, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
1985–1996 – Staff Photographer, Theatre Rhinoceros, San Francisco, CA
1985–1989 – Contributor, On Our Backs Magazine
1986 – Contributing Photographer, Gay Games (with On Our Backs)
1997 – Featured in Nothing But the Girl: The Blatant Lesbian Image (Cleis Press)
1997 – Lambda Literary Award & Firecracker Award for Nothing But the Girl
2021 – Awarded Center for Cultural Innovation Grant, Los Angeles, CA
2021 – On Our Backs cover photography featured at Cornell University
2021–2023 – Featured in Swann Auction Galleries’ LGBTQ+ Art sales
2022 – Featured in Radical Desire: Making On Our Backs Magazine, Hirshland Gallery, Cornell University
2022 – Awarded Portrait of the Year, Nevada County Camera Club (“Newborn Four Days Old”)
2024 – Archives acquired by The Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection, University of Minnesota
Newborn, Four Days Old, 2022
The Lesbian Erotic Revolution:
Shelby Sharie & On Our Backs
“On Our Backs gave me full rein to create radical feminist photographs.”
