Chloe Sherman (born 1969) is an American photographer. She is best known for her 1990s film photographs of the lesbian and queer community in the Mission District of San Francisco, and her related traveling solo exhibition Renegades: San Francisco, The 1990s.
Life and work Chloe Sherman was born in 1969, in New York City, and raised by hippie parents who would move the family to Portland, Oregon, where she would grow up.
Her move to San Francisco, California was inspired by a zine she read in her hometown bookstore titled Love Bites (1991) by Del LaGrace Volcano. Upon visiting for the first time Sherman would come across a newly opened cafe, the Bearded Lady Cafe in the Mission District. This became the social hub for Sherman and other artists alike, such as Catherine Opie, who would be an important factor in Sherman's attendance to the San Francisco Art Institute. Sherman would later graduate with a BFA degree in photography from the San Francisco Art Institute.
Sherman's work was heavily inspired by the work of Del LaGrace Volcano's photographs capturing the lesbian/dyke culture of London. Her photographs act as an archive of her life. Shot on 35mm film Sherman took to snapping photos that highlighted her world, the intimacy, community, and resistance from the mainstream. These shots included an emphasis on the butch and femme subculture of the 1990s.
However, may of these photos were not made public for roughly thirty years. In 2021, Sherman's daughter saw a photo her mother had taken uncredited on Instagram. This led to her daughter pushing Sherman to create an account and share the work she had done, leading to her eventual exhibitions and publications.
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions 2022: RENEGADES San Francisco: the 1990s, Schlomer Haus Gallery, San Francisco, California 2023: RENEGADES San Francisco: Queer Life in the 1990s, F³ Freiraum für Fotografie, Berlin, Germany 2024: RENEGADES San Francisco: the 1990s, Leica Camera Gallery, San Francisco, California 2025: RENEGADES San Francisco: the 1990s, Von Lintel Gallery, Los Angeles, California 2025: RENEGADES. San Francisco: Queer Life in the 1990s, Photobastei, Zürich, Switzerland
Group exhibitions 2026: Photos on Fridges, Harkawik Gallery, New York City, New York 2025: Around Group f/64: Legacies and Counterhistories in Bay Area Photography, SF MOMA, San Francisco, California 2024: What We Love: Street Photography, San Francisco, California and Warsaw, Poland 2024: Who's Afraid Of Stardust, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nürnberg, Germany
Collections Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA), San Francisco, California
Publications
References