Evelyn Cameron

1868 - 1928

Updated: April 5, 2023

Evelyn Cameron was a photographer and diarist who chronicled pioneer life in Eastern Montana from the late 1890s onward. Born into a wealthy family in England, she moved to Montana with Ewen Cameron, a family friend and hunting companion who was more than a decade her senior and previously married. Despite her upbringing, Evelyn preferred outdoor activities such as hunting and horseback riding. She became interested in photography after being introduced to it by a boarder at their ranch house and began photographing weddings, family portraits, and wildlife. Her work accompanied her husband's observations of the local fauna of the region and was featured in several publications. Cameron's work was largely unknown until former Time-Life Books editor, Donna Lucey, discovered thousands of her prints and negatives, diaries, and letters covering thirty-six years of frontier life.

Lucey wrote a biography about Cameron's life and work, and many of her photographs and diaries are now housed at the Montana Historical Society and the Evelyn Cameron Museum in Terry, Montana.

Montana State Library, Evelyn Cameron photos and diaries.

PBS documentary, Evelyn Cameron: Pictures From A Worthy Life.

Web site of Evelyn Cameron Heritage, Inc.

Video from Visit Southeast Montana

Evelyn Cameron biography on Wikipedia

Updated: April 5, 2023