She received a BFA for Photography and Imaging from New York University. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic Digital, AARP, Narrative.ly, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Metro New York, Bloomberg News, Marie Claire Australia, NewYorker.com, The Intercept, Eater New York, TravelChannel.com, Gawker.com, Urbandaddy.com, The Brooklyn Paper, Courier Life, City and State, Engineering News Record and Visura Magazine as the spotlight photographer. She completed the Missouri Photo Workshop in 2013. She is amongst the winners of the 2017 PDN Storytellers Competition. Bess continues to work on personal projects and is available for assignment.