Sarah Ann Harrison (1837–?) is the earliest documented female photographer in Malta. She was born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

in 1837 to Abraham and Sarah Roberts. On August 9, 1864, she married George Harrison, from Stenigot, Lincolnshire in Valletta, Malta. Between 1864 and 1871, Sarah Ann operated in her name from 74, Strada della Marina, Isola ( Senglea), Malta. A

Carte de visite The ''carte de visite'' (, visiting card), abbreviated CdV, was a type of small photograph which was patented in Paris by photographer André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854, although first used by Louis Dodero. Each photograph was the size o ...

original discovered by

Giovanni Bonello Giovanni Bonello (born 11 June 1936 in Floriana) is a Maltese judge, judge of the European Court of Human Rights from 1 November 1998 until 31 October 2004. As the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe rejected the names proposed by the ...

(and now in the national Malta carte collection) confirms her operating as an independent photographer in Senglea, Malta at that time. Sarah Ann Harrison is considered to be the first woman running her own photo studio in Malta. In the 1871 UK census she is listed as a photographer operating in Boston, Lincolnshire.

References

19th-century women photographers Crown Colony of Malta people Maltese photographers Maltese women photographers 1837 births Year of death missing 19th-century photographers 19th-century Maltese artists Artists from Plymouth, Devon {{Malta-bio-stub