A lover of Wellfleet and the world, Barbara Cole Kirk died peacefully on May 16, 2024 at Seashore Point in Provincetown surrounded by family, friends, and caregivers. She had lived an independent life into her 90s, but a fall in 2022 required that she move to assisted living. She was 94.
Born on July 7, 1929 in New Haven, Conn., Barbara was the daughter of Kenneth Cole and Esther Johnson Cole and the younger sister of Kenneth Johnson Cole. Childhood summers were spent among the Coles of Wellfleet’s Paine Hollow, on the water and the clam flats. “I lived and breathed to come out here,” she told the Provincetown Banner in 2018.
After graduating from Wheaton College in Norton with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in German, Barbara earned a master’s degree in early childhood education from the Bank Street College of Education in New York City, subsequently working with preschool children for five years at Queens College.
Her life as a photographer began when she received a camera in 1958 to photograph her students. That changed her career path. “I got hooked very quickly,” she said, “as though I had needed some medium to show people what I was thinking and feeling.” She became, she added, “more interested in photographing the children than teaching them.”
Barbara apprenticed with Steve Horn, Ben Rose, and Wingate Paine. After five years, she moved to the commercial studio Horn-Griner, then to Wingate Paine as his manager and representative. Through him, she met Malcolm Kirk, with whom she partnered in work and marriage.
Barbara and Malcolm were sponsored by the National Geographic Society to photograph the indigenous peoples of Papua New Guinea. In three separate trips between 1968 and 1972, the Kirks photographed and documented the island, its tribes, and their cultures.
Part of their work involved “retracing the escape route of Australian civilians from Hollandia to Port Moresby when fleeing the Japanese during World War II,” according to an exhibit of Barbara’s photography now on display at the Wellfleet Public Library. Their 1970 trip was devoted to documenting the Asmat people, which required canoeing nearly 3,000 miles.
Barbara and Malcolm separated in 1974. She then worked on feature films, including Hail to the Chief and Made for Each Other, before turning to educational filming for Parents magazine, New York Hospital, DuPont, and the Dow-Jones Company, providing publicity stills, portraits, and photographs to support annual reports.
Barbara also taught still photography at the 92nd Street Y in New York City and at the Parrish Museum in Southampton, N.Y., and she took photographs for Esquire, Smithsonian, Venture, and National Geographic.
Finding Wellfleet an ideal setting for children’s film strips, Barbara used the harbor to recreate the Boston Tea Party and the oyster house as a Revolutionary War setting. She also wrote and did the photographs for children’s books, including Sunny, the Death of a Pet and Grandpa, Me and Our House in the Tree, the latter published by MacMillan in 1978.
In 1985, during the last year of her father’s life, Barbara made Wellfleet her permanent home. “I guess I always knew I’d come back,” she said. Since much of her filming had been on location, she continued her work here and retained her New York clients.
Barbara was an avid reader and a lover of nutritious food. She was a reiki practitioner and had a passion for health and healing. On her shelf, you would find books by Pema Chodron, Thich Nhat Hanh, Diane Stein, Kenneth Cohen, Louise Hay, and Irene Paine.
She adored her cat companions over the years, the hammock in her pine tree grove, walking down to the landing with walking sticks in hand to breathe the fresh salt air and look at the boats, welcoming friends to the porch where she sat and read, and greeting neighbors passing by on their walks to the bay.
She was enlivened by the world around her and in turn inspired those in her orbit. Barbara always held both New York City and Cape Cod firmly in her heart, but it was South Wellfleet that felt most like home. She was grateful for it all.
Barbara is survived by her nephew Ch (Chuck) Cole of South Wellfleet and niece Polly Cole and husband Neal Meglathery of Thetford, Vt.; grandnieces Sky Freyss-Cole of Brewster, Soleil Cole-Olson of Wellfleet, and Jennie Meglathery Marchant of Strafford, Vt.; grandnephews Cedar Freyss-Cole of Wellfleet and Will Meglathery of Thetford, Vt.; and three great-grandnieces, one great-grandnephew, and many cousins and friends.
The Wellfleet library has mounted an exhibit about Barbara’s life, including some of her New Guinea artifacts and photographs. It can be viewed during library hours through June 30.
A celebration of her life is planned for Sunday, July 7 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Pond Hill School in South Wellfleet.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Mustard Seed Kitchen at 155 Hopkins Drive, Wellfleet 02667 or Meals on Wheel at sselder.org.
