The John H. Tarbell Photographs contain fifty-five black-and-white photographs depicting people and landscapes. The majority of the photographs are unidentified. Several photographs identify the depicted women and girls as Shakers making a rug and interacting with chickens. One photograph identifies the location of a house on Chestnut Street in Salem, Massachusetts. Unidentified photographs depict rural family life and nature scenes, as well as the exterior and interior of suburban buildings. As the collection had no original order, photographs were grouped by subject, and photographs of the same people were placed together.