A Candid Portrait of the 1990s New Wave of Queer Culture

'I carried my camera everywhere at the time. Photography was a casual, spontaneous, integrated part of my communication with somebody – it was built into the fabric of my life.' - Chloe Sherman, The Guardian

'For the queer community pictured in Chloe Sherman’s new photo book, Renegades, self-presentation is a kind of sacred tongue.' - The New Yorker

In the 1990s, queer youth, outcasts and artists, flocked to San Francisco to find one another and to experiment with art, self-expression, style, and gender. Rent was affordable, paving the way for queer bars, clubs, tattoo shops, galleries, cafes, bookstores, and women-owned businesses to emerge. A new wave of feminism embraced gender bending, and butch/femme culture flourished. The Mission District was the center of this queer cultural renaissance, and the feeling of community 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.

Text by: Lynn Breedlove, Catherine Opie, Anna Joy Springer