Editorial comment for this plate:

“Merry Christmas.”

WITH the pretty subject of Miss Clarkson’s picture, which forms a frontispiece to this number of our magazine, we wish all our readers

A MERRY CHRISTMAS.

May the cordial feelings and pleasant relations which have existed between readers and editors throughout 1891, and many preceding years, be cherished by all throughout the year to come and the many years to follow.

Emilie Vallete Clarkson: 1863-1946

American photographer Emilie Clarkson was a member of the Society of Amateur Photographers of New York and the Camera Club of New York. Her photographs appeared in the publications American Annual of Photography, theAmerican Amateur Photographer and the Photographic Times. Alfred Stieglitz included her work in Camera Notes.—Wikipedia (2026)

Emilie Clarkson Moore: A Lady Photographer

courtesy: Christian A. Peterson. Pictorial Photography at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts : Privately Published, 2012.

Emilie Clarkson began taking photographs in 1888, and she graduated from the Chautauqua School of Photography in 1890. That same year, she joined the Society of Amateur Photographers of New York (SAPNY). She started exhibiting her images the following year. In 1893, she launched solo screenings of her work in New York, Brooklyn and Rochester, and she won prizes for her slides from SAPNY and at competitions run by Amateur Photographer magazine. Clarkson was active in producing lantern slides, and was equally proficient at landscapes, portraits and genre scenes.

In 1894, two prominent photography periodicals included articles about Clarkson and her work. The American Amateur Photographer included her in its list of “Prominent Amateur Photographers.” Alfred Stieglitz was also on the list that year. In August 1894, the Photographic Times ran a three-page article on Clarkson as part of its “Distinguished Photographers of Today” series.

Clarkson became the only female founding member of the Camera Club of New York in 1896. In 1898, the Camera Club’s quarterly, Camera Notes featured a full-page photogravure of her image, “Spinning” and more images were included in two portfolios of photogravures produced by the Camera Club in 1899 and 1901.

She exhibited her work worldwide, including salons in London, Paris, Milan and Calcutta. Her last known display was part of the 1901 Glasgow International Exhibition.