Jacqueline Bouvier: The Inquiring Photographer

Before she met Jack Kennedy, Jacqueline Bouvier was the Washington Times-Herald’s “Inquiring Camera Girl,” posing compelling questions to members of the public on the streets of DC and snapping their photos with her unwieldy Graflex camera. She then fashioned the results into a daily column, of which six hundred were published.

Before meeting her future husband, Jackie had been working as a photojournalist for the Washington Times-Herald.

Editor-in-Chief Frank Waldrop was impressed with Jackie’s straight-forward personality and obvious intelligence. But when she made it clear she wanted to be an active member of the newspaper business, not just someone answering phones, Waldrop was skeptical. He bluntly asked Jackie if she was serious about journalism or simply biding time until someone proposed to her. She assured him she genuinely wanted to write, and Waldrop promised to consider her request.

Shortly before Christmas in 1951, Waldrop came up with what he considered a perfect vehicle for Jackie. The “Inquiring Photographer” had been a regular column in the Washington Times-Herald for years. The premise was to pose a topical question to people then run their responses and pictures.

Up to then, the column had always been shot and written by a male reporter. But Waldrop thought he might shake things up by having Jackie do it. At the time, it was a daring move in the male-dominated newspaper business. But if nothing else, it would have people talking.

“I remember her as this very attractive, cute-as-hell girl, and all the guys in the newsroom giving her a good look.” – Waldrop recalled.

Jackie at her desk at the Washington Times-Herald, ca. 1952.

Jackie had never used a professional camera before, but she proved a quick study and after just a couple of days was able to take usable head shots. The new column was called “Inquiring Camera Girl.” She was paid $42.50 a week. After three months Jackie was given a byline on the column.

The assignment gave her the freedom to tackle any topic and approach people from all walks of life. Her questions reflected both a subversive humor and a sharp intelligence. Some questions were whimsical: Would you like to be famous? Some were based in the culture of the time: If you found out your spouse was a former Communist, what would you do? Others reflected Jackie’s own subtle feminism: When did you discover women are not the weaker sex?

Jacqueline Bouvier, “Inquiring Camera Girl,” Times Herald (Washington, DC), June 4, 1953, page 23.

Jacqueline Bouvier, “Inquiring Camera Girl,” Times Herald (Washington, DC), April 21, 1953, page 24.

She spoke to average citizens on the street as well as senators and socialites. For the next year and a half, Jackie proved she was more than just a sheltered socialite. She was an independent woman capable of supporting herself. Those in her column included JFK, Nixon, and a London bus driver in tow, 1952.

During this time, Jacqueline met John F. Kennedy, who was a congressman and soon to be elected senator from Massachusetts. On September 12, 1953, they married at St. Mary’s Church in Newport, Rhode Island.

Jackie photographs Dale Chestnut feeding goldfish on the rooftop pond of the Washington Times-Herald building in 1952.

The journalism career of Jackie Kennedy, seen here photographing a bus driver in London, 1952.

Jackie is pictured shooting Jack with her Graflex camera in Hyannisport, 1953.