Tamara Staples lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.  She graduated from The University of Florida with a BFA in photography. Her art practice includes photography, video and multimedia installation. Her work has appeared in Harper's Magazine, the New York Times, New York Magazine, Town and Country, National Geographic and is featured on NPR's This American Life (Poultry Slam, 2023) and CNN, is a fellow of the Rauschenberg Residency (2015) and a two-time recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Grant (2004, 2016). She was awarded Photolucida Critical Mass Finalist (2014, 2017-19, 2024).Her pure-bred poultry portraits resulted in the publication (Chronicle Books) of The Fairest Fowl: Portraits of Championship Chickens (2001), The Magnificent Chicken: Portraits of the Fairest Fowl (2013).

Staples debuted Side Effects May Include (2017) at the ICA San Jose.  The ICA was awarded a large grant from The Knight Foundation due of the importance of the show’s message.  The exhibition continued to Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Ore (2018) and Firelands Association for the Visual Arts, Oberlin, Ohio (2018).  All three galleries organized  panel discussions around Polypharmacy.  The accompanying book, Inventory of One Person’s Medicine Cabinet, was self-published in 2017.

Staples has participated in Arts Gowanus Open Studios (2015-2024), New York Times Portfolio Review (2017) and Fotofest International (2012, 2016, 2018).  She was invited to The Other Artfair Brooklyn (2023) as a visiting artist. Her work is included in the collections of The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Art Houston, Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula, Fidelity Investments and Private Collections around the world.