Jamie M. Allen
Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Curator and
Head of the Department of Photography
George Eastman Museum

Jamie M. Allen is the Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Curator and Head of the Department of Photography at the George Eastman Museum. She has been with the museum for over 18 years. Allen has curated exhibitions such as Zig Jackson: The Journey of Rising Buffalo (2025), Life with Photographs: 75 Years of the Eastman Museum (2024–25), Selections from the Collection (2023–25); Adam Ekberg: Minor Spectacles (2023) Perspectives: Recent Gifts of Contemporary Art (2022), Anastasia Samoylova: FloodZone (2022), Jess Dugan: To Survive on this Shore (2022), Bea Nettles: Harvest of Memory (2019–21), Nathan Lyons: In Pursuit if Magic (2019), #LarsonShindelman #Mobilize (2019); A History of Photography(2018); Photography and America’s National Parks (2016), In the Garden (2015), Astro-Visions (2013), and Between the States: Photographs of the American Civil War (2011). Her books include Bea Nettles: Harvest of Memory (University of Texas Press, 2019), Nathan Lyons: In Pursuit of Magic (University of Texas Press, 2019), The Photographer in the Garden (Aperture, 2018), Picturing America’s National Parks (Aperture, 2016), and the essay “From Vision to Reality: A Transition from Pictorialism to Modernism” in Imogen Cunningham (TF Editores/D.A.P, 2012/2013). Allen grew up in Tempe, Arizona. She holds an M.A. in photographic preservation and collections management from Toronto Metropolitan University in coordination with the George Eastman Museum, as well as a B.A. in art history and a B.F.A. in photography from the University of Arizona, Tucson.

About the George Eastman Museum

The George Eastman Museum is located in Rochester, New York, on the estate of George Eastman, the pioneer of popular photography and motion picture film. Founded in 1947 as an independent nonprofit institution, it is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the oldest film archives. The museum holds unparalleled collections—encompassing several million objects—in the fields of photography, cinema, and photographic and cinematographic technology, and photographically illustrated books. The institution is also a longtime leader in film preservation and photographic conservation.

In addition to activities in Rochester, New York, Eastman Museum Los Angeles, a newly launched venture of the George Eastman Museum, was established in 2024 with the mission of contributing to arts, culture, and education in Los Angeles.

Primary activities include curating exhibitions, organizing public programming, and offering educational programs that explore photography, moving images, and related technology.

Website: https://www.eastman.org