Kerry Payne Stailey’s work explores grief, longing, and identity through a series of intimate photo essays—giving form to experiences often carried in silence, and, at times, offering a way through.

Kerry Payne is an Australian-born, Maine-based photographer whose work explores grief, identity, longing, and the quiet emotional landscapes that shape our lives. Through intimate, concept-driven projects, she examines themes of family, inheritance, addiction, infertility, and loss—creating images that give form to experiences often carried in silence.

Her practice is rooted in personal narrative, using photography as both a means of inquiry and a way through. Projects such as My Father’s Daughter, The Children (I Never Had), and Dear Ethanol draw from lived experience while resonating on a broader, universal level.

Kerry has studied photography, documentary filmmaking, and writing at the International Center of Photography, the School of Visual Arts, and New York University. In 2015, she was named “Photographer of the Year” by the Lucie Foundation in the Moving Images category. Her work has been widely published and exhibited internationally, including features in Time Lightbox, The New York Times Lens Blog, Marie Claire, Esquire, and Burn Magazine, among others.

She is the founder of Blenheim Park Maine, a lakeside orchard and creative estate where she hosts immersive photography workshops for photographers from around the world. Designed as a place to step away from the noise and reconnect—with creativity, community, and self—the program brings together leading photographic voices and a small cohort of participants for an experience that is part workshop, part retreat.

Alongside her photographic practice, Kerry has an extensive background in business consulting and has advised creative organizations and photographers on strategy, positioning, and audience development.

Learn more at www.maineworkshops.com and www.blenheimparkmaine.com

CONTACT KERRY:

e: kerry@kerrypayne.net | t: +1 775-376-0163

Available for freelance editorial, commercial, event and commissioned work worldwide. Clients include United Nations Foundation, FujiFilm USA, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, CNN, IF Studio, and Aga Khan Development Network.

PUBLICATIONS, AWARDS & PRESENTATIONS:

2021 - 2026 Workshop Instructor: ‘The Intimate Lens - Art for the Heart’ - Photographing Vulnerability, Telling Personal Stories, Maine.

2020 - Group Exhibition, #ICPConcerned: Global Images for Global Crisis, International Center of Photography, New York, New York

2019 - ‘More Beautiful Broken’, 1st Place (Film/Other), International Photography Awards, Lucie Foundation.

2019 - ‘My Father’s Daughter’, 2nd Place (Motion/Video), International Photography Awards, Lucie Foundation.

2019 - ‘Instant Love Story’, Honorable Mention (Portrait), International Photography Awards, Lucie Foundation.

2019 - Workshop Instructor: ‘Art for the Heart’ - Photographing Vulnerability, Telling Personal Stories, Maine.

2019 - Featured artist - ‘More Beautiful Broken’, exhibition. Miami PhotoFest.

2019 - Workshop Instructor: ‘Photography Hands On’ - Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Miami Photo Fest.

2019 - Lecture, ‘More Beautiful Broken’ - Miami PhotoFest.

2019 - Guest Lecture, St Lawrence University, NY: “Photographing the Invisible, Photography and Mental Illness”.

2018 - Workshop Instructor: ‘My Story: The Photo Essay’ - Camp Kita, children’s summer camp for suicide survivors.

2017 – Guest Presenter, David Alan Harvey (Magnum, NatGeo) NYC Masterclass

2017 - Workshop Instructor: ‘Healing Through Photography’: Camp Kita, children’s summer camp for suicide survivors.

2016 – Winner, Digital PR Awards / Instagram Communications: #Instacorps for United Nations Foundation

2016 – Guest Presenter, "The Intimate Lens", International Center of Photography, NYC

2016 – 'Left Behind' - ABC News.com

2016 – Group Exhibition, FujiFilm Headquarters, Tokyo, Japan

2016 – Guest Presenter, David Alan Harvey (Magnum, NatGeo) NYC Masterclass

2016 - Workshop Instructor: ‘Expression Through Photography’: Camp Kita, children’s summer camp for suicide survivors.

2015 – Winner, Lucie Award for Photographer of the Year (Moving Images) – International Photography Awards, Lucie Foundation
2015 – ‘Left Behind’ – 2nd Place (Moving Images), International Photography Awards, Lucie Foundation
2015 – ‘The Children (I Never Had)’ – 3rd Place (Moving Images), International Photography Awards, Lucie Foundation
2015 – ‘Soñar Madre’ (collaboration with Natalie Grono) – Honorable Mention – Fine Art Portrait, International Photography Awards, Lucie Foundation
2015 – ‘Soñar Madre’ (collaboration with Natalie Grono) – Honorable Mention – Self Portrait, International Photography Awards, Lucie Foundation
2015 – 1in20 exhibition, Indian Photography Festival, Hyderabad, India
2015 – Cover/Feature article, Pro Photo, Photojournalism Now
2015 – ‘Soñar Madre’ (collaboration with Natalie Grono) – Burn Magazine
2015 – ‘Soñar Madre’ (collaboration with Natalie Grono) – Echosight
2015 – ‘Left Behind’ – Finalist, Palm Springs Photo Festival
2015 – Guest Lecture, Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse, NY
2015 – 1in20 exhibition, Head On Photo Festival, Sydney Australia

2015 – Guest Presenter, David Alan Harvey (Magnum, NatGeo) NYC Masterclass
2014 – Panelist, Aperture, The New School: The Space Between, Smart Phone Photography
2014 – ‘The Children (I Never Had)’ – Burn Magazine
2014 – ‘The Children (I Never Had)’ – Slideluck, Photo DC
2014 – ‘Instant Love’ – The Space Between, Time Lightbox, NY Times Lensblog
2014 – ‘Instant Love’ – The Space Between exhibition, Center for Photography, Woodstock
2013 – ‘Left Behind’ – Solo exhibition, Australian Embassy, Washington DC
2013 – ‘Left Behind’ – Photoville, Kira Pollack/TIME Magazine selection, Slideluck.
2012 – ‘Left Behind’ – Sydney Morning Herald
2012 – ‘Left Behind’ – Revista Photo Magazine, Brazil
2012 – ‘Left Behind’ – Suicide Prevention Australia, Keynote
2012 – ‘Left Behind’ – Head On Photo Festival, Sydney Australia
2011 – ‘Left Behind’ – Photo DC, Slideluck
2010 – ‘Father’ – Burn Magazine
2010 – ‘Left Behind’ – Panelist, Suicide Survivors Day International Conference, Washington DC
2009 – ‘Left Behind’ – Esquire, Russia
2009 – ‘Left Behind’ – Marie Claire, Italy
2009 – ‘Left Behind’ – Burn Magazine