[1][2][3] Born and raised in the United States, she moved to Paris as a young woman, where she began working as a photojournalist.

[6] She carried a camera and took what she later described as "happy snaps", but, working as a singer, had no thought of becoming a professional photographer until she lost her voice and could not continue singing.

[6] Cartier-Bresson encouraged her to take photographs on the streets of Paris,[5] so she took buses to the end of the line and made photographs such as of children (some candid, some not) in the slum of Cité Lesage-Bullourde (near Place de la Bastille, and since cleared to make way for Opéra Bastille); and in the neighbourhood of Boulogne-Billancourt,[5][4] in 1950.

[16] In 1956 she married Robin Stafford, a British foreign correspondent for the Daily Express working in Paris.

[12] Back in Paris she showed the pictures to Cartier-Bresson, who made a selection and sent them to The Observer, which published two on its front page.

[17]: 37  Fashion photography of haute couture (custom-fitted) clothing at that time was normally modelled in opulent surroundings so as to convey a sense of luxury.

[21] Throughout her career she has made portraits, including those of Cartier-Bresson, Edith Piaf, Italo Calvino, Le Corbusier, Renato Guttuso, Carlo Levi, Sharon Tate, Donovan, Christopher Logue, Lee Marvin, Joanna Lumley, David Frost, Sir Richard Attenborough, Sir Alan Bates, and Twiggy.

It is granted annually to a professional woman photographer working on a documentary photo essay which addresses a social, environmental, economic or cultural issue.

The winner receives £2000[27] (initially £1000) and mentoring by Stafford and FotoDocument, an organisation that uses documentary photography to draw attention to positive social and environmental activity.