Sharpe's two major bodies of work include photographs of landscapes, and of Ghana (from 1962).

[2] Many of her landscape photos were taken at the same locations as Adams, however her work had more dark tonal qualities and appeared "tragic" in subject and composition.

[2] In 1962, she was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship for photography, which was used to work in Ghana.

[2] In 1967, she helped co-found the Friends of Photography in Carmel, California.

[3] She died on December 29, 1968, in West Chester, Pennsylvania, after a short illness at the age of 39.