by Len Lear

It is possible that Germantown resident Hinda Schuman is the only person in the city who has been married to both a man and a woman and has seen both marriages — 10 years to Jeremy and 27 years to Susan — fall apart. Schuman, 70, an international award-winning photographer who was a staff photographer at The Philadelphia Inquirer for 20 years, exposes both the joy and sadness of her unique experiences in a photo book, “Dear Shirley” (published by Daylight Books), which she will discuss on Thursday, Aug. 9, 7 p.m., at Big Blue Marble Bookstore, 511 Carpenter Lane in West Mt. Airy.

The just-published book contains photos and letters; emails and notes about marriage, divorce, “coming out” and then re-marriage and lesbian life, then separation. Covering a span of 40 years. “The first divorce seemed like an opportunity,” according to the publisher. “The second one seemed like a total failure.”

Why would anyone want to write about experiences that were so personal and painful? “I am not sure how to answer the question,” replied Hinda in an interview last week. “It is what I do. But I find it rewarding and insightful. I find that it's a way for me to process my life. I think most of photography is just seeking ourselves.”

A native of Brooklyn, Schuman earned degrees from Windham College (BA, 1969); Antioch University (M.Ed, 1981) and Tyler School of Art (MFA, 1985). Right after college, she spent a year picking fruit on a kibbutz in Israel and hitchhiking around Europe. She returned to Antioch and while getting her master's there, she began teaching in Bellows Falls, Vermont, and remained there for eight years.

From 1988 to 2007, she was a staff photographer at the Philadelphia Inquirer. What were her most interesting stories? “The stories that made a difference in someone’s life. Human interest. People who were creating change in their communities. And of course, there were storms and murders and fires and floods. Individuals affected by poverty and violence. Most of the time it was just interesting, whatever I was photographing.”

Oddly, she became fascinated by boxing matches and took lots of compelling photos at the Blue Horizon in North Philly. “I became a regular,” she recalled, “and was known by the fighters, the judges and the corner men. I branched out to photograph in several boxing gyms. There were many then around the city tucked away over car repair shops or on streets with no name.”

By the second week in January, 2007, Hinda was laid off along with the entire Pennsylvania Suburban Staff. After the layoffs she worked for USA Today, The Newark Star Ledger and a handful of other papers that needed stories photographed in the Philadelphia area. “That dried up rather quickly.” She has also done some public relations work and taught photography.

But her magnum opus is definitely “Dear Shirley,” which you can learn more about Aug. 9 at Big Blue Marble Bookstore. “I have documented the beginnings and the endings of my relationships, captured in bursts of 1/125th of a second. 'Dear Shirley' is filled with humor, anger, missed cues and discouragement. It is also about falling in love and the promise and excitement of finding someone to spend my life with. I see 2018 as the right time for a conversation about the hopes for queer marriages and the risks entailed.

“Like others in the 1970s and '80s, I was seeking a new path for myself. Ever been in love? Ever seen it all called into question? By the mid 2000s, the joy was being replaced with frustration, misunderstanding and an inability to crawl out of deep ruts. All the ingredients for a perfect afternoon read. And who doesn’t like to read other people’s mail?

“We all know marriage is a wonderful human situation that so many strive to find. We also all know that it isn’t quite as easy as it looks. Once marriage was made legal in all 50 states to any two people, it seems logical to think that some of those marriages may fall apart. I think the conversation I want to have is that sharing feelings and stories links humanity. It doesn’t matter whether you are LGBTQ or straight; we all belong on the planet.”

Schuman has lived in Germantown for 29 years but has her photo studio in East Falls.

When asked what was the hardest thing she has ever done, she replied, “Weird; the hardest things are also the things I have learned the most from. Watching my mother’s decline from Alzheimer's, for example. While I was there for her, knowing I could not do anything to halt the progression was painful, as was watching her realize something was happening but couldn’t put her finger on it. Also breaking up with Susan at the 27-year point.”

For more information, visit www.hindaschuman.net. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com