Mr. Weems was called on-site to photograph group activities and events which, when listed with his studio work, create the relative categories by which the Collection is defined and ordered: Awards and Honorings; business and commercial personalities and establishments; church and civic groups; entertainers and celebrities; families; funerals; graduation exercises and cap and gown cameos; landscapes; masonic orders and related auxiliaries; performing arts; portraits of children, men and women; professional training at the Winona School of Photography; schools; and others. The titles and listings of these categories are given in the "Photographs Collection" Finding Aid.

These photographs form a very special segment of the larger Weems Photographic Negative Collection, as they are the original Weems photographs accompanying the Collection at the time of purchase by the Auburn Avenue Research Library. Many of these photographs bear Mr. Weems' handwriting and identification notes on the back.

The Weems "Photographs Collection" reflects the personal and community-wide history of Jacksonville in the several processing techniques mastered by the photographer: "Black and White" photographs; "Color Hand-tinted" photographs; "Sepia Tinted" photographs; "Kodak Color Prints" made possible by Kodak color processing on Kodak paper in the 1960's. The Collection contains five photographs, distinctive from the other photographs, which have been isolated for research. There are two pieces of correspondence and an envelope that has Mr. Weems' handwriting.

The body of the Collection is found in the Black and White photographs. In a few instances, the Collection contains both the Black and White photograph and the Color Hand-tinted photograph of the same subject, actually the same photograph. These are grouped respectively with the Black and White or Color Hand-tinted photographs. By these we see a demonstration of the photographer's experimentation with color and his artistic talent. These are forerunners to the color prints that would be made possible in the last decades of his career by Kodak processing. The Sepia Tinted photographs are beautiful and evenly tinted. This processing in earth tones was very popular, and reflects beautifully the varying color of the African American subjects. The Color Hand-tinted and Sepia Tinted processes are developed to a high degree, and enhance the finished product for all the ethnic groups photographed in this Collection. There are only a few Color Prints in the Collection.

The "Five Photographs", isolated for research, are each distinctive from the other, and as a group, to be distinguished from the other photographs of the Collection. The settings, poses, in the studio and on-site, are unique in the Collection. The dress of the subjects may indicate earlier years than the other decades of photographs. These five Black and White photographs show less depth of tone. They may represent photographic restorative work and photograph repair.

In keeping with provenance, the Collection retains the two items of Correspondence referencing work done by Mr. Weems. The Correspondence speaks to the great affection that his clients felt for him. An envelope included in the Collection is inscribed in the photographer's handwriting with the name of a group and an identification number for a corresponding photographic negative.

The Weems "Photographs Collection" is representative of the 59 years of Mr. Weems' professional career, with photographs actually spanning 57 of those years, from 1928-1975. The 461 photographs of this Collection give the public access to the accomplished, sensitive work of Ellie Weems.