Ben-Yusuf, Zaida (fl. 1897–1907)

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Ben-Yusuf, Zaida (fl. 1897–1907)

British photographer. Born in England; died presumably in United States.

Highly regarded for her portraits, flowers, and photographs of Japan, came to US from Britain (c. 1890); probably began photographing in 1895; with encouragement from George Davidson, a leading British pictorialist, opened a portrait studio in NY (1897) and received 1st commission from Century magazine; traveled extensively in Europe and Japan, contributing articles and photographs for various publications, including Architectural Record ("Period of Daikan") and Century ("Flowers of Japan"); in addition to individual portraits of notable personalities, including one of Theodore Roosevelt, produced a series of photographs of artists for American Art News; gained great recognition, then disappeared from the art world (1907).