Oral history interview with Cherie Hiser

Collection

Identifier: SR 3125

Staff Only

Oral history interview with Cherie Hiser

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Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Cherie Hiser was conducted by Jim Morris on December 6, 1981. The interview was conducted as research for an article in an unidentified publication. In this interview, Hiser discusses her work as a photographer and talks about her technique. She speaks at length about her photography projects at the time of the interview, including portraits of gay men and tattooed people. She also discusses her self-portrait photography, and about her plans for future photography projects. She talks about learning to fly, about decorating her home, and about the health of her parents. She also discusses using photography as therapy. She describes taking her first photography class from Minor White; discusses her early photography work, including working as a newspaper photographer; and talks about her marriage to David Hiser, as well as some of her other relationships.

Dates

Creation: 1981 December 6

Creator

Hiser, Cherie (Sheryl Kathryn), 1939-2018 (Interviewee, Person)
Morris, Jim, 1953- (Interviewer, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Biographical note

Sheryl "Cherie" Hiser, nee Jenkins, was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1939. She studied photography under Minor White at the Museum Art School in Portland. In 1961, she and Keith Roger Christensen were married; they divorced a short time later. In 1963, she earned a degree in psychology. In 1966, she moved to Aspen, Colorado, and in 1968, she founded the Center of the Eye, a photography workshop. In 1967, she and David Hiser were married; they divorced in 1973. She returned to Portland, Oregon, in 1978. In Portland, she worked in hospital psychiatric wards as a mental health therapist, and also taught photography classes and workshops. In 1983, she and Timothy Green were married. In 1994, she founded PhotoWorks NorthWest in Portland; she was also a founding member of Photo Americas, now known as PhotoLucida. She retired from psychiatric work in 2001. She died in 2018.