Allee Wallace AKA Picture Man
Peter Joseph Souza is the former Chief Official White House Photographer for Presidents of the United States Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama and the former director of the White House Photography Office. Souza has snapped countless historic images including more than 2 million of the Obama White House. The San Antonio version of Pete Souza is Allee Wallace. Allee Wallace’s photography career spans four decades and more than 30 MLK Marches. He was also the staff photographer for the Institute of Texan Cultures for more than sixteen years. Mr. Wallace has photographed 100’s of dignitaries such as Rosa Parks, Rev. Joseph Lowery, Martin Luther King III, Maya Angelo and countless others. Many know Mr. Wallace as “The Picture Man”.
Born in Sugarland, Texas Mr. Wallace was encouraged to pursue his passion for photography. While attending Texas Southern University Wallace perfected his craft and became a master storyteller behind the lens. In the military he continued to hone his craft while becoming laboratory technician. His love for chronicling events through the lens of his camera helped him make it through his military service.
Much of Mr. Wallace’s photographic contributions have free of charge. He spent two years as an artist-in residence at the Southwest Craft Center and received an honorary doctorate for his civic contributions. He holds memberships in several organizations including Texas Photographic Society, Professional Photographers of San Antonio and the Luminous Printmakers Guild. In addition. Mr. Wallace has been an active participant of many national workshops including one hosted by Ansel Adams who was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. Adams was a life-long advocate for environmental conservation, and his photographic practice was deeply entwined with this advocacy. At age 12, he was given his first camera during his first visit to Yosemite National Park. He developed his early photographic work as a member of the Sierra Club. He was later contracted with the United States Department of the Interior to make photographs of national parks. For his work and his persistent advocacy, which helped expand the National Park system, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980.
Like Pete Souza and Ansel Adams, Allee Wallace’s works encompass a wide range of human events and circumstance. He photographed then Governor Bill Clinton at the National Baptist Convention in Arkansas. In addition to historic photographic renditions of the MLK Marches in San Antonio, Mr. Wallace acquired a deep appreciation of the human condition of the incarcerated. His interaction with the Bexar County Detention Center Ministries demonstrated Wallace’s social conciousness and commitment to challenging our perception of reality. He captured people whom many consider desperate and not worthy of our consideration in an often-joyous juxtaposition. His work with the prison ministry allowed Wallace to develop his love of music. That love of music has helped Wallace make it through one of the most challenging years of his life.
Doris Wallace was a talented dress maker and the love of Allee Wallace. She was the rock of Gibraltar the formed the foundation which supported Wallace during his various endeavors. Mrs. Wallace had Lewy body dementia, which causes significant memory loss and damage to motor functions. On March 16, 2020 Wallace noticed Doris, looked ill. He took her to Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC), where doctors said she had pneumonia, likely from holding food in her mouth and causing her to aspirate. Wallace had been the sole care giver for his wife for more than twelve years up to that point. The Coronavirus which soon after would be declared a pandemic and change the way of life for the Wallace family and the entire country.
Zenzi Ferrell-Lewis, Wallace’s daughter has been there for her independent parents. When her mom became ill with dementia, she supported her father’s wishes to be the primary care giver for Doris. A couple of days after Doris had been hospitalized, Allee began to have difficulty breathing. Ferrell-Lewis was worried. Her father was in good health, the type of guy to take a little NyQuil and “sleep it off.” She rushed him to BAMC, where the doctors tested him for the novel coronavirus. Coronavirus had prevented Wallace from visiting his wife who had complications related to COVID-19. As he waited for his test result to come back, he asked his medical team if he could see his wife one more time. She was about to be transferred to a local nursing home for hospice care. He knew this likely would be the last time he would see her.
The medical staff led her to his room. He called out her name. She opened her eyes and looked right at him. “Baby, I did my best,” he recalled telling her, his eyes brimming with tears. “I tried. I’m not strong enough to keep you here.” In that moment, he felt the presence of God comforting him. A few days later, they learned she also was infected with the coronavirus. Leola Doris Wallace died on March 21, the first person in Bexar County to die from COVID-19 complications. She was 83.
Wallace himself would be hospitalized for a month with COVID-19 complications. His oxygen levels dipped. He was transferred to the intensive care unit. He did not know where he was, or who he was. Wallace’s faith had once again sustained him as he became one of the oldest coronavirus patients to recover from the pandemic. Wallace said his treatment was difficult. At times, when his faith faltered, he prayed to God. He believes that God infected him so that he could be with his beloved of 63 years one more time before she transitioned. Many who have been faced with the challenges that Wallace faced during 2020 lose their own will to survive. “I’ve been a witness to God,” Wallace said. “This gives me the opportunity to write more about what God can do in your life.”
While he has not be able to tell stories through his photographic lens during 2020 he has been able to work on his love for music. He wants to write a book reflecting on his experiences at the hospital. He wants to compose more hymns, perhaps record some and send them to friends undergoing treatment in nursing homes. Go to www.saobserver.com to see our live interview with Allee Wallace a San Antonio’s treasure.
