Isaiah West Taber

Isaiah West Taber (August 17, 1830 – February 22, 1912), often as I. W. Taber, was an innovative photographer who produced early photographs of San Francisco, where he was based, and other points in California and throughout the American West. Born in Massachusetts, Taber moved to California in 1850 before returning east in 1854 and opening a photography studio in Syracuse, New York. In 1864, he returned to California to work at Bradley & Rulofson (that is, William Rulofson and Henry William Bradley), the leading photographic studio in San Francisco and on the West Coast.

Taber opened his own studio in 1871, finding success by reproducing images from Carleton Watkins’ bankrupted Yosemite Art Gallery without attribution. Taber’s original photographs of California, other places on the West Coast, and Hawaii were also popular, and he established himself as a leading photographer in the city. However, like Carleton Watkins, Taber’s studio and the entire collection of negatives were destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, effectively ending his career.