Jessie Tarbox Beals

Jessie Tarbox was born on December 23, 1870, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She began taking pictures as a hobby and in 1902 was hired by The Buffalo Inquirer as a staff photographer. Tarbox is thought to be the first woman in the US to hold this position. After covering the World’s Fair in 1904, she moved to New York City and opened a photography studio,taking portraits of famous people including Theodore Roosevelt and Mark Twain. Tarbox died in 1942.

 Her first career was as a teacher, working in Massachusetts. In 1888, Beals got her first camera and began taking pictures as a hobby, often in the summertime when school was out. She married Alfred Tennyson Beals in 1897.

Jessie taught her husband how to develop negatives and make prints. In 1900, she left teaching and pursued photography full time with her husband as her assistant.

Becoming restless, they moved to St. Louis to cover the World’s Fair in 1904.
 At first, she wasn’t acknowledged as a press photographer, but she managed to get credentials that allowed her to take pictures of the fair before the exhibits were opened. From those initial images, Beals managed to convince the fair’s administration of her talents, and she became the only official female photographer for the event. While there, she took impressive shots of the fair’s air show, exhibits, and many of its important visitors.

In 1905, Jessie fulfilled a professional dream-she moved to New York City and opened a studio. She became known for portraits, documenting her subjects in a realistic, natural style. She also continued to work as a freelance photographer. She was featured in a 1913 The New York Times article about women photographers and described a recent project-“photographing tenement-house conditions for the purpose of reform.”

Separated from her husband in 1917, she was left to look after their daughter-who was born in 1911-on her own. With a child to support, she often took whatever type of work she could get. Besides taking pictures, Beals also lectured on the subject of the photography.

  Toward the end of her life, she spent several years in California doing garden photography, and some of these images were published in The New York Times. Beals was also published in such magazines as Ladies’ Home Journal, Town and Country, and Harper’s Bazaar during the course of her career.

Her photographs of New York and the people at the turn of the 20th century are just stunning.

If you love Black and White photography, this is definitely for you!