Buckhead doctor treasures ‘portrait of Eleanor’

Joe Massey, Atlanta

Background: Massey, an infertility doctor, has been an avid photography collector since the 1970s. He has more than 100 prints in his Buckhead apartment and in storage. He is especially interested in postwar modernism. He decided to focus his work on living photographers because he could meet them and see their work evolve. Massey also takes photographs. “I call myself an above-average amateur photographer,” he says. “I know my limits, and one of the ways I know my limits is by living with the masters.”

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Kirsten Tagami / ktagami@ajc.com

Dr. Joe Massey, a photography collector, holds a portrait of a rare mural-size photo of Eleanor Callahan, taken by her husband Harry, a well-known photographer.

Favorite piece: A 1945 portrait of Eleanor Callahan by her husband, the legendary photographer Harry Callahan. Massey bought the print as part of a group of pictures he purchased from Callahan’s dealer. Massey became friends with the Callahans after they moved to Atlanta in 1983 to be close to their daughter. Massey encouraged Harry to allow an expert printer to have a series of large-scale prints made of his work, which he did. (One of them is a photo of a building facade in Chicago.) Callahan died in 1999, but Massey said he still visits Eleanor about once a month.

Why he likes it: Besides the classic beauty of the photograph, he likes it because “it connects me to Eleanor and Harry.”

My Favorite Piece is a way to let Atlantans talk about the best-loved works in their collections. If you have a suggestion, email Kirsten Tagami at ktagami@ajc.com.