Teresa Zabala was born in Salinas, California in 1938. She graduated from U.C.L.A. with a degree in Art History, but found herself more enamored of photography and spent a year at the ArtCenter College of Design. Teresa got her first job photographing for the Monterey Herald, and went on to work at Record American (which later became the Boston Herald) before becoming a full time photographer at the San Francisco Examiner and eventually landing at The New York Times covering Washington as a staff photographer. These days, she spends her time traveling for pleasure and photographing as a freelancer.