Freeman was a self-taught photographer who started learning the trade around 1910. After the divorce, Freeman dedicated more of her time to photography. She became the sole proprietor of Freeman Art Company, specializing in landscapes and artistic portraits. in studio and outdoor settings in
Humboldt County and Eureka. As a
pictorialist, she created stylized portraits using a
soft focus. She often retouched and hand-colored her prints, sometimes adding allegorical details. Her compositions involved contrived poses and settings that often inaccurately depicted Indigenous culture and clothing. She also photographed elderly residents at the
Klamath and Hupa reservations. Freeman's
Northern California series, features 200 photographs depicting Native Americans from the
Klamath River area. She sold prints from the series and gained recognition for her work at the 1915
Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Freeman's photographs showed the impact of roadside logging on the
redwoods of Humboldt County accompanied national magazine stories by
Madison Grant of the
Save the Redwoods League. Collections of Freeman's photographs were published as books, including
Northern California Series. She went bankrupt in 1923 due to competition and a dishonest business partner. She moved to a smaller store before retiring and marrying bookkeeper Edward Blake in 1925. Freeman had a stroke on December 24, 1927. She died in San Francisco, California, in March 1928. Her works are held by the
Newberry Library and the
California State Library.
Peter E. Palmquist wrote the 1976 monograph ''With Nature's Children: Emma B. Freeman (1880-1928); Camera and Brush'' about her life and photography. ==Gallery==