In the 1990s, queer youth, outcasts and artists flocked to San Francisco to experiment with art, self-expression, style and gender and to find community. Rent was affordable, paving the way for queer bars, clubs, tattoo shops, galleries, cafés, bookstores and women-owned businesses to emerge. A new wave of feminism embraced gender fluidity, and butch/femme culture flourished. The Mission district was the center of this queer cultural renaissance, and the feeling of community there was palpable.
Chloe Sherman was both a member of this community and an ardent visual chronicler. Her documentary photographic work on 35mm film stems from a commitment to capturing the vibrancy, tenderness, individuality, resilience and joy within this subculture that was derided by mainstream society. Distilling the spirit of the time, her debut monograph is a candid portrait of a vibrant era that connects current and future generations to the pulse of San Francisco at a pivotal chapter in queer history.
“While pursuing my degree in photography at the San Francisco Art Institute in the 1990s, I began documenting a generation of young, self-identified queers in the Mission District. Rent was affordable, and gay youth, outcasts, artists, and free spirits migrated to San Francisco to find one another. The sense of community was palpable as a queer cultural renaissance unfolded. Bars, clubs, tattoo shops, galleries, cafes, bookstores, and women-owned businesses proliferated. A new wave of feminism embraced gender bending, and butch/femme culture flourished.
I was impressed by the collective creativity, support, pride, and strident defiance of cultural norms. This subculture emerged against the backdrop of mainstream society. All shot on 35mm film, my photographs from this vibrant era connect current and future generations to the pulse of the city during a unique time when difference and homecoming were unapologetically celebrated. “
- Chloe Sherman#

Published on the occasion of the 2023 exhibition at f3- Freiraum für Fotografie, Berlin