About
Kate Medley (she/her) is a visual journalist based in North Carolina, whose work across the American South focuses on storytelling and environmental portraiture, often exploring issues of social justice and the shifting politics of this region. She regularly contributes to The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.
Kate is the author of THANK YOU PLEASE COME AGAIN, a photo book that explores gas stations and convenience stores as unexpected hubs of community, culture, and connection in the South. The book was honored by the James Beard Foundation, named a Best Book of the Year 2024 by NPR, and received the 2024 Mississippi Institute of Arts & Letters Prize.
Kate’s roots are in Mississippi, where she has investigated Civil Rights -era cold cases, covered the devastating impacts of Hurricane Katrina, and explored the cultural relevance of hot tamales and Koolicles in the Mississippi Delta. In addition to her editorial work, she spent ten years leading brand storytelling at Whole Foods Market and is the founder of Medley Media, a documentary and commercial production company.
Today, Kate lives in Durham, North Carolina, with her husband and two children. She serves on the board of the Durham Library Foundation and as a judge for the James Beard Awards. She is a member of Women Photograph and the National Press Photographers Association. She holds certifications in drone operation and hostile environment safety. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, ProPublica, Goldman Sachs, and Starbucks. In recent years, her work has been exhibited in solo shows at the Mississippi Museum of Art, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Jule Museum of Fine Art, the MAX Museum, and The Light Factory.
More information is available at medley-media.com.
Photo by Rory Doyle for The New York Times
Featured in:
Upcoming events
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MISSISSIPPI BOOK FESTIVAL: Jackson, Miss.
September 26, 2026 — 12pm
In conversation with Pat Sansone
Free and open to the public
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CLICK Photography Festival, Durham, N.C.
October 3, 2026, 10am
Artist’s Talk
Free and open to the public
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UNC Center for the Study of the American South: Chapel Hill, N.C.
October 12, 2026 — 5pm
Eudora Welty at Home: A Conversation with William Ferris, Kate Medley, and Michael Pickard
Free and open to the public
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Press about Kate's work
The New York Times: Where Southerners Go to Fuel the Tank and Feed the Family, by Kim Severson
NPR: ‘Thank You Please Come Again’ is an Ode to the Food of Southern Gas Stations, with Debbie Elliott
CNN: The South’s hidden gems? Its diverse gas stations, according to this photographer, by Jacqui Palumbo
The Splendid Table: Thank You, Please Come Again: How Gas Stations Feed & Fuel the American South, with Francis Lam
The Washington Post: Good eats in the U.S. South’s Gas Stations, Convenience Stores and Quick Stops, by Kenneth Dickerman
FORBES Magazine: The Best Food In The South Served In These Surprising Locations, by Leslie Kelly
Filling Up: How Gas Stations in the American South Mirror Their Communities, with Lena Gellar at Indy Week
NPR: Our Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2024
On the Road for the South’s Best Gas Station Food, on WUNC’s Due South
Deep South Dining features Thank You Please Come Again with Malcolm White
Southern Filling Stations Explored in New Photo Book “Thank You Please Come Again”, on WABE’s City Lights
Musée Magazine: Vanguard of Photography Culture, interview
Kate Medley Documents the Southern Treasure of Gas Station Food, on WFAE’s SouthBound podcast with Tommy Tomlinson
The Mississippi Arts Hour with Photojournalist Kate Medley, on Mississippi Public Broadcasting
12 Southern Foods to Give as Holiday Gifts, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
2023 Gift Guide, by Civil Eats
BATCH: Kate Medley - Meat and Three & 10 Dollars Worth of Regular, on The Bitter Southerner podcast
A Taste of Southern Culture: Documentarian Kate Medley Discusses Her Work at MOCA in The Virginian-Pilot
Q&A with Photojournalist Kate Medley at The Editor’s Desk
Eyes on the South: Democratic Spaces in The Oxford American
Gas Station South in Southern Cultures
Meat and Three & Ten Dollars’ Worth of Regular in The Bitter Southerner
O Moldy Night: The Jell-O Exhibit You Need to See to Believe on Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street
O Moldy Night in The Bitter Southerner
A Spoken Dish Asks Southerners: What Is Your Food Identity on NPR
The Eudora Welty Portrait Reader in The Bitter Southerner
Kate Medley—Documentary Storyteller at Whole Foods Market on Good Food Jobs
Contact Kate
kate.medley@gmail.com
(601) 951-0492
Durham, North Carolina