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Hendrix Professor Curates Historic Photographic Archive Exhibit


Ellie Lee Weems, Untitled, 1930-40s.

Maxine Payne curates exhibit of southern photographer Ellie Weems for Institute 193

CONWAY, Ark. (March 28, 2023) — Hendrix art professor and photographer Maxine Payne recently curated an exhibit featuring the historic photographic archives of the late Southern photographer Ellie Lee Weems for Institute 193 in Lexington, Kentucky.

The photographs of Weems, along with the Payne-curated archives of the Massengill family photographs, are included in The High Museum of Art’s 2023 exhibition in Atlanta, Georgia, and the publication Photography and the American South since 1850.

Weems (1901-1983) was born in McDonough, Georgia, and attended Tuskegee Institute, where he studied under C.M. Battey, founder of the school’s photography department. After Tuskegee, Weems moved to Atlanta, where he practiced photography. By 1928, he had worked as the proprietor of the Paul Poole Photography Studio in Atlanta. In 1929, Weems moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where he was a successful photographer for half a century in three different studios. He was renowned in Florida for his images of community life and the physical fabric of cities and towns.   

“Our relationship with photography is vastly different in the digital and social media era than those who lived in an analog world,” said Payne. “We must therefore consider Weems’ work in the context of time and place to better understand the people represented. When, where, and by whom images are made are vital to our understanding: What does the studio portrait tell us about the subject, and what does our interpretation of the studio portrait reveal about ourselves?”

“In looking at these photographs, it’s clear that Weems wanted to represent his subjects in the best way possible,” she said. “Through the compositions, lighting, and direction of a masterful photographer, beautiful and successful people were recorded in images that they could be proud of. Here are angels, queens, scouts, and soldiers.”

Payne’s collaborations with Institute 193 founder Phillip March Jones led to the 2015 Dust-to-Digital publication of Massengill family photographs in Making Pictures: Three for a Dime.  

About Maxine Payne

Currently a professor in the Art Department at Hendrix College, Maxine Payne works to find ways to engage community in her work and speaks to the idea of place. She currently shares the Margaret Berry Hutton Odyssey Professorship with author and Hendrix English and creative writing professor Dr. Tyrone Jaeger. Their collaborative project with Hendrix College students and alumni, called Audio Visual Arkansas, focuses on collecting digital stories about Arkansans and can be seen at AVARK.net.  

She was awarded the 2013 National Museum of Women in the Arts, Arkansas Fellowship for her photographic work. Since 2004, she has photographed hundreds of Arkansas historic bridges for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.

She received her M.F.A. from the University of Iowa where she was also an Iowa Arts Fellow. She was selected a Fellow of the American Photography Institute at New York University, as well as a Fellow of the College Art Association.

Her work can be seen at www.maxinepayne.com.

About Institute 193

Founded in 2009, Institute 193 collaborates with artists, musicians, and writers to document the cultural landscape of the modern South, embracing the notion that groundbreaking contemporary art can and does emerge outside of large metropolitan centers. Institute 193 provides artists from Kentucky and the Southeastern United States — selected not by commercial viability, but by the quality and relevance of their work — with exhibition and publication opportunities. It also endeavors to help these artists gain broader media exposure and foster connections in art markets across the globe by hosting musical performances, film screenings, lectures, and other community-driven events in addition to visual art exhibitions. Learn more at www.institute193.org.