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Jessie Tarbox Beals (December 23rd, 1870 - May 30th, 1942) was an American photographer and was the first published, female, photojournalist in the United States and the first female night photographer. Beals is most known for freelance photographs and most recognizable - her portraits at the Bohemian Greenwich Village. Jessie gave herself the trademark of breaking through gender barriers within her career. After a visit to the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, she gained an interest in travel and photography. Her first official photographic assignment was to capture the Massachusetts prison. Later that year, she received her first credit line for her work in a publication, the “Windham County Reformer”. She later opened her own studio and began making a name for herself in the art world. As female photographers increased during the 1920’s, she started to shift her focus in her work to photograph Hollywood Estates after moving to California with her daughter. Her work is an inspiration to me because her path of getting to where she was successful was so unconventional and I find that to be really incredible. To be a woman in the industry, the first female photojournalist, and to do it all on your own standards and time. 

Jessie_Tarbox_Beals_with_camera_Schlesin

All work courteous of Jessie Tarbox Beals.

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