About Shae McCoy
Photo by Philip Muriel
Born and raised in West Baltimore, Shae McCoy has been building her brand and leaving her mark all over the DMV, one photo at a time. Since founding her blog, Uncommonrealist.com back in 2013, Shae has curated a list of achievements that just keeps growing. From interviewing actors, activists, community leaders, and politicians, to creating a spotlight for local artists, Uncommonrealist.com became a hub for all things culture. Uncommonrealist was nominated for The Inaugural Southern Blogger Impact Awards in 2016 and featured on various.local platforms. In 2018, the blog won an award for Best Entertainment Website. While attending the University of Baltimore, Shae was a contributing writer for the UB Post, the university’s publication.
As Uncommonrealist continued to grow, Shae was developing a passion for the visual arts. In 2016, she started Shae McCoy Photography ( formerly Coy-Op Photos), a photography brand that caters to various types of photography, including event, scenic, and portrait photography. Her journey as a photographer started out as a way to paint a story to go with her articles, but as opportunities came her way, her photography brand grew. Shae’s work has been featured in major publications such as Teen Vogue, The Cosmopolitan, Essence, The Baltimore Magazine, and BMore Art. Her work has also been a recurring feature for LED Baltimore. Some of her other recent accomplishments include being featured in the Baltimore Sun’s 25 Women to Watch, coming in at #14. Shae’s photography has been displayed on the Baltimore Museum of Art website,in the Joan Hisaoka Gallery in Washington D.C. and Red Emma’s Bookstore CoffeeHouse.
Shae started a photography project called West Baltimore Ruins, “a visual story told by West Baltimore’s daughter” in 2018. The photos capture the beauty in the abandoned and dilapidated homes and structures that inhabit West Baltimore and bring a new life to them. The project in its entirety is a photographic archive of West Baltimore while transitioning and directs attention to gentrification and blight. Shae then turned The West Baltimore Ruins project into a self published photography book in 2021. It includes beautifully provocative photos and provides an educational context that explains proper terms used for hasty transitioning of the area. West Baltimore Ruins also shows Shae’s passion for a better future for her community and other black communities in Baltimore. Since then Shae’s book has been recognized by local media platforms such as Bmore Art, The Real News Network and has been interviewed by the Smithsonian Institute, WYPR, Red Emma’s and more. West Baltimore Ruins has been displayed on the UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore County) library gallery website as a solo exhibition. Shae takes pride in this being her best body of work to date.
Shae has been recognized by the City of Baltimore, Voices of 21217 and the No Boundaries Coalition for sharing her skills with the youth of West Baltimore in the 21217 zip code. In that same zip code she is now an Urban farmer helping to fight food apartheid in Baltimore City.