Down By The River: Joe Wolek’s Long Journey Home

By Kevin Murphy Wilson • Photos Provided 

Joe Wolek has fabulously functioned as an artist, photographer and location scout all over the world. Along the way he has worked with the Smithsonian Institute, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, and has exhibited his craft internationally. These days, however, Wolek is primarily concerned with lifting up the combined legacy of fellow free spirits Harlan and Anna Hubbard through the nonprofit organization Payne Hollow on the Ohio. 

According to Wolek, who was the only member of his family to be born here in Kentucky, his adventures began in earnest at age 12 when his parents split and his mom “got itching to head west for the California dream.” By his late teens Wolek was sufficiently tuned in to the rambling state of mind and in search of a creative path that would enable this sort of lifestyle for the long haul. In a roundabout way, following a lackluster first year in college and a period of “vagabonding” around Mexico with a camera and a bunch of black & white film, Wolek ended up back in Kentucky taking art classes at the University of Louisville, discovering that’s the area he wanted to pursue most. 

More related studies ensued in California, at the state university in San Francisco, after which Wolek ventured down to Los Angeles to earn a graduate degree at CalArts. There, Wolek said, he got way into doing conceptual artwork—primarily photo-based—but also creating video projections, installations, and “other sorts of odds and ends that could pass for art back then.” 

Still, Wolek knew he had to also be practical when it came to making ends meet. “For the bread and butter, I got involved in commercial photography as an assistant, and through that discovered that a lotta [sic] work was done out of the studio on location and there were these people that were hired to find these locations, i.e. Location Scouts. That sounded like one hell of a cool thing to do, wandering around discovering and photographing places and getting paid for it.” 

For about a dozen years one of Wolek’s go-to clients was Harley-Davidson. “A few times a year they would give a call and say, ‘go to this area of the country for a few weeks and find cool shit.’ They were glorious paid road trips. It was a great way to make a living that allowed me to also do my own photography while I was on the road for them.” 

Being a freelancer also allowed for personal passion projects in between commercial gigs. One in particular would forever change Wolek’s life, for the better. 

“I received a grant to travel to the Mongolian and Tibetan areas of China, specifically the grassland regions. A couple years before I had done an artist in residency in Omaha, Nebraska at the Bemis Foundation and I got really enthralled with the Great Plains culture, history and nature and did a project via documentary and installation on that. I had discovered a lot of the similarities to the regions in Mongolian and Tibetan steppes. So, I applied for what was called an ‘Adventures in China’ grant and spent nine months photographing and experiencing the hinterlands. It was a life-changing event that solidified my quest to experience and immerse myself in places of difference as much as possible. Additionally—and very serendipitously—I met my Siberian wife in a small border town where Siberia, China and Mongolia all meet.” 

After meandering far and wide with his new bride for many, many seasons, Wolek permanently landed back in the Commonwealth not too long ago. This homecoming was prompted, at least in part, by a harrowing escapade while in the midst of a photography endeavor in Argentina. “Shooting alone in the early morning in the picturesque yet rough part of Buenos Aires called La Boca, I was attacked by two kids for my gear,” Wolek explained. “It was pretty extreme and very, very close to the edge. After a long stint of recovery, given the opportunity, I knew I had to look towards a new phase in life.” 

That new direction led Wolek back to his Bluegrass beginnings and ultimately to discovering the world of Payne Hollow, the historic Trimble County homestead of Harlan and Anna Hubbard situated on the banks of the Ohio River. 

“He [Harlan] was an artist and writer, she [Anna] was a musician, librarian and homemaker extraordinaire, both living off the land around them. I’ve always liked outsider sort of people that just go with their own direction of the wind so it [the Hubbards’ intriguing backstory] grabbed my attention to say the least,” Wolek said. 

When a friend of his got the idea of forming a nonprofit to raise funds to purchase, restore, protect and promote the legacy of the place and the Hubbards, Wolek eagerly went along for the ride. 

“I’m a founding Board member of Payne Hollow on the Ohio,” Wolek said. “We are an all-volunteer organization with a working Board so we do everything that has to be done around establishing and maintaining a nonprofit and coordinating the work that goes into the place. I’ve been focusing on the restoration efforts in the building. I also liaison with an AmeriCorps NCCC team on site, coordinating and supervising all the projects they perform. Additionally, I handle most of the photo, video, website, and social media needs.” 

Wolek, who now owns an adjacent property of his own dubbed “Hollowpayno” couldn’t be happier with his current life and the light he gets to regularly shine on the Hubbards. 

“True folks are really hard to come by, especially ones that go to such extremes to live the way they wanna live, focus on what they wanna focus on, and dedicate true effort to what they wanna enjoy. In the age of screens and AI it is not simply a welcome relief from that but indeed a guide for a possible alternative.” 

For more information, visit paynehollowontheohio.org.