Isaiah West Taber (August 17, 1830 – February 22, 1912[1]) was an American daguerreotypist, ambrotypist, and photographer who took many pictures of noted Californians, which he donated to the California State Library “that the state may preserve the names and faces, and keep alive the memory of those who made it what it is.”[2] He was also a sketch artist and dentist.[3] His studio also produced a series of stereoscopic views of west coast scenery.
Taber was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts[4][5] and between 1845 and 1849 he worked at sea on a whaler.[6] He first moved to California in 1850. He returned East in 1854 and opened up his first photography studio in Syracuse, New York. In 1864, he returned to California, where he worked in the studio of Bradley and Rulofson until 1873.