A Photographic Legacy Chronicling Black Society in Houston

February 7 – April 20, 2018

Louise Martin was born in Brenham, Texas. Her father was a waiter and her mother a maid. Her mother bought her first camera for her when she was eleven years old for $3.98, a Kodak box camera. Always focused and intense, Martin worked as a domestic to save money to pay for her studies. At that time, schools in the South only admitted white students to their photography courses, so Louise Martin made enough money to attend the Art Institute of Chicago and the American School of Photography in Chicago. The only black woman at the time, she also enrolled at the Denver School of Photographic Arts and Sciences. In the early 1950s she became a member of the Rocky Mountain Association and in 1952 was asked to join Southwestern Photographers Convention. She remained active with both organizations and won several competitive photographic awards.

In 1946, Louise Martin opened her first studio, Louise Martin Art Studio, in Houston’s Third Ward. She became the society photographer for the black community capturing families, soldiers, pageants, organizations, weddings and events of significant importance to her community. She was indefatigable, organizing in 1952 at the Louise Martin Art Studio, an exhibition described as,“one of the largest, most colorful and complete art exhibits to be held in Houston…featuring photography, oil painting, pastels, ceramics and sculpture.” Her studio sponsored the First Annual Photo Baby Club Contest, and from 1973 – 1976, she provided a sixteen week course of study in photography. Among many professional accolades Louise Martin received during her long career, she was particularly please to be named in 1967 Outstanding Business Woman of the Year by the Houston League of Business and Professional Women.

Louise Martin had never heard of Martin Luther King, Jr. when she took his picture at the graduating class ceremony of Houston’s Irma Hughes Business College in 1958. King was a stand-in speaker for the President of Morehouse College who couldn’t attend. Ten years later, she was one of only two female photographers with press credentials to cover the funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 9, 1968. Two of her photographs of this far reaching ceremony are held in the collection of The Museum of Fine Arts Houston. The service at Ebenezer Baptist Church began at 10:30 a.m., followed by a march of all attending to Morehouse College for the second service which began at 2:00 p.m. Recalling the day, Martin said, “They all laughed when I came up with my old Graflex…my lenses were so good, I even got the cracks in the wagon.” Documenting the historic event placed Louise Martin in rarefied company. She knew exactly when to snap the shutter and record for us, all of us, the pathos and the deep sadness felt by our nation and the world.

Louise Martin spent her lifetime documenting with clarity the vital, gracious, and extraordinary black community of Houston. Her legacy continues, and it all began with a Kodak box camera.

Curated by Sally Reynolds

In collaboration with the artists, Sarah A. Trotty, Ph.D. from the Willy and Sarah Trotty Collection—SAIMM

With thanks to Ida and Hubert Thompson and The Midtown Arts Center

Photographs by Dawn Baxter