Shots of Charleston

PAST EXHIBIT

Morton “Nicky” Brailsford Paine, Jr. was arguably, one of the most dedicated photographers of the Holy City. Continually interested in mechanics and new inventions, Paine led the way in using modern scientific advancements.  He was also a cross-country driver, a pilot, and one of the first amateurs to use a motion picture camera locally. Always experimenting with speed, light, shadow, and later, color, Nicky Paine would record the history of the buildings, beaches, and people of Charleston from 1900 to his death in 1940.

In 1941, the Museum purchased over 3,000 prints and glass plate negatives from Nicky’s sister, May Paine.  May had managed to save most of the photographs and negatives from the house they shared on 47 Meeting Street after a Category 2 hurricane flooded the ground floor, just days before her brother’s death.

King Street, 1901

An Inter-Island Liner, A Charleston Tidal Creek, c. 1900

Circus, Meeting Street, April 1927

St. John’s Jockey Club Spring Race, Belvidere Plantation, April 3, 1937

Archivist, Jennifer McCormick