Frances Benjamin Johnston

      While I was rummaging through my pile of photo magazines I ran into a Smithsonian magazine and I remembered it had an article about Frances Benjamin Johnston. She was a photographer in the 1890s; an unusual occupation for a female during that time. In the article, biographer Bettina Berch discusses her life and work. The photographs chosen to accompany the article are two self-portraits.; one depicting the quintessential Victorian lady and the other, perhaps, a jezebel. She earned a living with her photojournalism and photographed notable people of the time such a Susan B. Anthony. Oddly, considering the subject matter her self-portraits explore, she was not a suffragist herself. She’s an interesting and generally unknown photographer. The link to the article is below.


Frances Benjamin Johnston - Smithsonian Magazine Article