McKewen Joe Studio Photogy

Joe McKewen is Corinth’s oldest professional photographer. Many of us have known him since he was not so old. My classmates are not so young ourselves anymore. The CHS class of 1962 was the 3^rd senior class for whom Joe was the official school photographer at Corinth High School. Each and every one of our class pictures at our reunions for 50 years were made by Joe McKewen in 1962. At each of our reunions for the last 50 years, Joe McKewen has made our official reunion class picture.
Joe McKewen graduated from Corinth High School in 1951. His wife to be, Doris Firth (McKewen), graduated from Corinth High School in 1953 and was named Miss CHS. Joe attended Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, and returned to Corinth in 1958 with Doris to begin a lifetime of photography in his hometown.
Joe and Doris started Joe McKewen Studio in a small 3 room space upstairs above the present day State Farm office on the corner of Cruise and Fillmore Streets. They soon moved to a larger location on Hwy 72 across from the truck scales at the intersection with old Hwy 45. At the time of his retirement, the McKewen studio was located at 411 Cruise Street directly across the street from the former Rubel’s Department Store where his father worked when Joe was a child.
Joe started slowing down in recent years and retired as football videographer for the Corinth High School athletic program for which he was recognized with a 50 year commendation for his service. Joe has served as president of the Mississippi/​Alabama Association of Professional Photographers and has received numerous lifetime awards including a Master Photographer designation. An avid outdoor enthusiast, Joe is widely recognized as an authority on the flora and fauna of Northeast Mississippi.
Starting in the 20^th century and now continuing into the 21^st, Joe and Doris McKewen have shared significant events in our lives, capturing memories of our community, ourselves, our families, and our children. Joe and Doris McKewen have earned a lasting place in the lives of families in Corinth and Alcorn County.

Joe McKewen is known throughout Northeast Mississipi for his photography. He has been the dedicated senior portrait photographer for a dozen schools for decades. He photographed me for my senior pictures.
Locals and tourists that may not know him on a personal level have no doubt seen him in Corinth restaurants. Joe McKewen has a rather unique look and style of his own. He isn’t seen out and about without his newsboy hat perched atop his head. He always has a wide smile framed by a short beard. I’ve never seen him when he didn’t sport a pair of suspenders hitched to a pair of Khakis.
The McKewen Studio follows the path Joe blazed so many years ago.
An article and interview from 1994