Viewing by Appt. Please contact Shell Sheddy (212) 802-4507

A 16 year retrospective of East Village photographer Shell Sheddy's work.

Activist, Artist, Documentarian, Tagger, Downhill Slam Champion Record Holder, Historian, native & resident of the East Village/LES and friend, I met Shell Sheddy during the Howl! Festival in 2004. She just appeared out of nowhere, camera in hand at one of the events I was running at The C-Note. She took several impromptu snaps and even though I had just met her moments before, she sincerely apologized for not being able to stay longer as she had another event to cover and off she went! As I have come to discover, it was my great good fortune to meet her as it is for anyone to meet her. Shell Sheddy is “the real thing”: Authentic, impassioned, committed, & informed about the community she serves. Shell has been here and continues to be here to cover this community in all it’s throws of destruction, construction and expression!. Shell is our own “hometown” photographer. Shell grew up in this neighborhood and as an adult practicing her craft, choose to live and work in this neighborhood right on East 10 Street the same block that John Cale and Lou Reed lived on & the same street that the Tompkins Square Park Library is on which is housing her retrospective spanning 16 years. Allen Ginsberg who lived around the corner on 9th street and was a frequent subject, would constantly play practical jokes on her. There is a harmony evident in her life and purpose. This show represents the changes and transformations, the artists, the everyday people and the outspoken & social nature of this neighborhood. Lenny Kaye recently told her that “this neighborhood has always had it challenges and difficulties” but we must keep expressing. Let this look back at the recent past of the east village and l.e.s. bless you with a spirit of renewal.

DESTRUCTION
Shell is a historian of the most seemingly impromptu kind but if you spend anytime with her, camera always in hand, you realize she’s got some kind of radar, some kind of honing device. She possesses an uncanny ability to be at the right place at the right moment and a good thing too. Case in point; Shell just happened to walk by Saint Brigid’s Church, ( the 149 year old which was built by the Irish families who survived the potato famine) , whose life is now hanging in the balance, and took a photo of a worker caught in the act of destroying parts of the church’s interior in defiance of the judge’s ruling to stop demolition until the community’s demands to save the church could be examined. Her photo? Used as part of an affadavit requested by the judge. Her photos? Shell has donated several of them as part of a fundraising drive to the committee to save Saint Brigids. If you ask her why she did it, Shell will tell you that this is our community, our culture and it’s our duty to protect it. The aftermath of 9/11 was captured by Shell too with a respect for whatever human tragedies that transpired. Nothing cheap but always true. What strikes me about Shell is that no moment that contains humanity is deemed unimportant. She has a sentimental connection with her subjects often delivering photos to them just days after they were taken.

The cultural institutions of the L.E.S. here have been numerous and often legendary. We’ve lost many lately and Shell was there to document the demise so many : CBGB’s last night of glory with Patti Smith , the end of live music at The Continenetal and what seems like an endless list of others such as Brownies, The Fez, Luna Lounge, Tramps (though technically not in the east village) Spiral…

“It’s Magic.” Those were Shell’s words when she saw her first photograph develop in a darkroom as possibly the worlds’ youngest photo assistant at age 4. Magic. She captures a lot of it. One of Riot Grrl magazines premiere photographers from 1991-96 before they moved West, she’s been published in Angry Women in Rock, Lips Tits Hits Power, The Aquarian, The Village Voice, New Review of Records, Time-Out NY, The Villager, East Coast Rocker, Rock R Girl and countless others photographing tons of women musicians who have been notoriously under represented. Of course, she has covered the heavy weights too like Nina Hagen, Debbie Harry, Chryssie Hynde, Gwen Stefani, Joan Jett, & Diamanda Galas.

Expression
As a political voice, the East Village found sight as well in her show at Company “Voices for Democracy, Truth and Diversity: Images of the RNC” documenting some of the activities of the weeklong protests and outrage in 2004 that happened right here. You’ll see Shell’s look at street culture and happenings like Art in Odd Places, Howl!, Mardi Gras in NYC, Punk Spirit, Beat Culture…A Few Moments, & our precious community gardens. Below is a peek of some of the many, if not downright countless, performers, happenings and hangouts- some still here & some gone forever - that Shell Sheddy has captured. Enjoy the show!

-Ekayani Chamberlin - Nov. 13 2006 NYC

Jeff Buckley, Eartha Kitt at Luna Lounge, the closing of the landmark 2nd Avenue Deli, Joey & Johnny Ramone, Richard Hell, Mo Tucker, Joan Jett at Brownies, The Squats for Skunk Magazine, Phoebe Legere, Lourds, Jennifer Blowdryer, Penny Arcade, Theo of the Lunachicks, Patti Smith, The Collective Unconscious & Spaceboy, Gas Station, Mosaic Man, Spinner, Vitapup, the late Spalding Gray at P.S. 122, The Continental, The Wetlands, The Fez with Thurston Moore, Elliot Smith, Cyd Straw, Kiki & Herb, Loser’s Lounge, The Spiral, Don Hill’s with Mistress Formika, Sherry Vine, The Toilet Boys, Debbie Harry, Ronnie Spector, Mary Help of Christians, Allen Ginsberg, Patricia Smith, Keith Roach, Ellen Smith, JJ Cale, Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, The Wives, John Cameron – Mitchell, G.O.L.E.S and...

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