Musician, theatre worker, and photographer Diana Davies became a photojournalist in the 1960s. One of the principal documentarians of the second-wave women's movement the U.S., she also photographed in Africa, Central America, the Middle East, and Europe. She documented the civil rights and peace movements, poor people's and welfare rights movements, and farmworkers' struggles. Throughout her career, Davies has photographed various creators and performers of cultural expression, including musicians, writers, craftspersons, dancers, circus and theatre people, potters, and artists. Her photographs of individuals run the gamut, from obscure street people to well-known public figures. Davies' work has been published in books, journals, newspapers, and magazines, and is included in collections at the New York Public Library, the Smithsonian Institution, Howard University, and the Swarthmore Peace Collection. Her book Photojourney : photographs was published in 1989.

In the 1990s, Davies abandoned her career in photography (except for photographs of friends) in order to work as a graphic artist, painter and illustrator, with an emphasis on the subject of social change. Davies writes plays with social justice themes, having throughout her life participated in and supported all aspects of "people's theatre." As a committed peace and social justice activist she also works with organizations promoting social change, and helps feed and clothe the needy in her community.