Sahl, Ted.

Theodore (Ted) Sahl is an award winning local photographer in San José, California. Sahl has spent the last 30 years as a photojournalist, documenting social and political events in the Bay Area. Although best known for his involvement with the Santa Clara County Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) community, Sahl photographed other social movements in the region, including the anti-nuclear demonstrations at the Lawrence Livermore Radiation Laboratory, Cesar Chavez and the Farm labor strikes in the 1970s-1980s, and the African American community in Santa Clara County. A champion of social justice, Sahl, used photography to document and empower marginalized communities.

Ted Sahl, photo-journalist and collector, has documented the African American community in San Jose since the 1970s. The photographic materials include images of celebrities political rallies, and social events in San Jose, as well as a small photographic album that features African Americans living in Santa Cruz during the 1940s-1950s. The historic post-card collection illustrates the racists attitudes during the era of Jim Crow. This eclectic collection of black Americana documents the struggles, achievements, and contributions of the African American community to American society and culture.

Ted Sahl is an award winning photographer in San Jose, California. Sahl has spent the last 30 years as a photojournalist, documenting social and political events in the Bay Area. Although best known for his involvement with the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community (GLBT), he also covered the anti-nuclear demonstrations at the Lawrence Livermore radiation laboratory, and the farm labor strikes that occurred during the 1970's.

Sahl's long time association with the GLBT community began in 1978 after a bitter dispute took place between the gay community and members of the Christian right. Local Christian groups were upset over the San Jose city council's decision to issue a proclamation in support of Gay Pride Week. While the Christian groups mobilized against the city council, the gay community held a rally in support of Gay Pride Week. Intrigued by the grassroots activism and interested in recording the event, Sahl attended the protest and thereby launched a life long career documenting the GLBT community. Initially, the GLBT community distrusted Sahl's motives as a heterosexual outsider. At that time, many individuals in the gay community were still closeted and did not wish to be photographed. Over the next three decades however, Sahl gained the trust of the GLBT community and today is widely recognized for his work as a photojournalist and as an outspoken advocate for gay rights.

Sahl served as the staff photographer for a number of local GLBT newspapers including the Lambda News, South Bay Times, Our Paper and Valley Views. His photographs have appeared in a number of works, including a 1999 San Jose Mercury News documentary on the city's lesbian and gay community, entitled A Community of One. In 1981, the San Francisco Cable Car Award Association nominated Sahl for an award in photojournalism. He was also the recipient of an honorable mention in Advocate magazine's national photo contest in The People category and has the distinction of being the only heterosexual to ever become the president of the board of the San Jose Gay Pride celebration committee.