Last updated: March 20, 2025
Person
Alice Austen
New York Public Library Digital Collections
Quick Facts
Significance:
Photographer who documented sapphic life in New York
Place of Birth:
Rosebank, New York
Date of Birth:
March 17, 1866
Place of Death:
Staten Island
Date of Death:
June 9, 1952
Place of Burial:
Staten Island
Cemetery Name:
Moravian Cemetery
Alice Austen was a photographer who documented the lively activities of her female social circle at the turn of the century in New York City.
Austen was born on March 17, 1866. Her father abandoned the family when she was around three years old. As a result, she and her mother moved into her grandparents’ home, a wisteria-laden farmhouse on Staten Island that the family nicknamed Clear Comfort. Clear Comfort became a National Historic Landmark in 1993.1
Austen received her first camera as a gift when she was a child. She wasn’t formally trained as a photographer, but she developed a love for the craft. She photographed people at work on the streets of New York – street sweepers, police officers, and messenger boys alike. At the time she was taking pictures, venturing into the city alone as a wealthy, upper-class woman was unusual. Austen was even more conspicuous since she rode a bicycle and hauled camera equipment.2
Most of Austen’s photography was done as an avocational amateur. Because she and her family were independently wealthy, she didn’t need to sell her work to survive. Being financially secure gave her freedom not often experienced by contemporary women artists.3
Austen was interested in documenting her own life and experiences, particularly her social circle in New York. Most of Austen’s friends were women, and many of them – like Austen herself – were in romantic relationships with other women. Austen often photographed herself and her friends holding hands, wearing men’s clothing, and cuddling in bed – all intimate scenes of sapphic women’s affection and love.4 Austen met her life partner, Gertrude Tate, in 1899.
Austen lost her wealth in the stock market crash of 1929. She and Tate tried to eke out a meager income by renting out Clear Comfort, but it wasn’t enough. Austen needed a wheelchair to get around because of complications of arthritis, which limited the housing and employment opportunities available to her.5 She moved into the Staten Island Farm Colony – often described as a “poorhouse” – at the age of 80. Tate went to live with her family, who didn’t approve of the couple’s relationship. She was only able to visit Austen once a week.
In 1950, Oliver Jensen - a researcher and writer associated with LIFE magazine – found the glass plates for Austen’s photographs in storage at the Staten Island Historical Society. He was intrigued by their subject matter and impressed by their technical and stylistic excellence. While investigating the plates’ origins, he learned that Austen was still alive and planned to visit her. However, when they met, Austen was unresponsive - until Jensen started showing her enlarged images of her photography. She was able to share the details of who and what were featured in her pictures.6
After interviewing her, Jensen planned a story about Austen to be published in LIFE. Running in the September 24, 1951 issue, the article featured Austen’s photographs of Clear Comfort, her friends and family, and her pets.7 Two weeks after the article’s publication, the Staten Island Historical Society decreed an “Alice Austen Day,” creating an opportunity to display Austen’s photographs to the public for the first time. Austen and Tate were both able to attend the celebration.
Alice Austen died in 1952 at the age of 86.
1 Jill S. Mesirow and Page Putnam Miller, “Alice Austen House” National Historic Landmark Nomination (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1993).
2 Alice Austen House, “Alice Austen House: Early American Photographer,” Google Arts & Culture, December 2, 2024.
3 Alice Austen House, “Fine, Bright Day: The Photography of Alice Austen,” Google Arts & Culture, accessed December 2, 2024.
4 Janice Monger and Denise Rompilla, “Interpreting LGBTQ History at the Alice Austen House,” National Trust for Historic Preservation, October 6, 2017, accessed November 27, 2024.
5 Kendra Gaylord, “Alice Austen, the 1800s photographer: her house, her photos, her love life,” YouTube, March 2, 2023, accessed November 27, 2024.
6 Bonnie Yochelson, “Miss Alice Austen and Staten Island’s Gilded Age,” Gotham Center for New York City History, 2021, accessed November 25, 2024.
7 “The Newly Discovered Picture World of Alice Austen: Great Woman Photographer Steps Out of the Past,” LIFE, September 24, 1951.
Want to learn more?
Check out:
- Bonnie Yochelson,"Miss Alice Austen and Staten Island's Gilded Age," Gotham Center for New York History
- "Alice Austen & Gertrude Tate Residence," NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project
- "The Staten Island Historical Society's Alice Austen Collection," Historic Richmond Town
- Ann Novotny, Alice’s World: The Life and Photography of an American Original: Alice Austen, 1866-1952 (New York: Staten Island Historical Society, 1976).
This page was written by Dr. Sarah Pawlicki.