This story originally appeared in the Spring 25 print edition of theTennessee State Museum Quarterly Newsletter.
In 1839, a scientific process made public in France birthed what we know today as the art of photography. The images produced from this process were known as “daguerreotypes,” named after its creator, Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre. Scientists previously made attempts to capture images using chemical reactions, but it was Daguerre’s process that quickly spread internationally.
The images produced in Tennessee studios during the next 100 years provide glimpses into the state’s political and social history. Opening June 10, 2025,Photography in Tennesseeuses the Museum’s photograph collection to tell the story of the medium’s first century.
Little Betty, about 1940, Horace Maynard Brazelton, Hamilton County, Kodak Postcard, 2024.13
Photography’s First 50 Years
Traveling photographers brought the daguerreotype process to Tennessee in the 1840s. According to The Tri-Weekly Memphis Enquirer, J.G. Aitkin of New York set up a daguerrean gallery on Front Street in Memphis as early as 1846. Photographers established themselves in Knoxville and Nashville the following year. Studios weren’t only in larger cities, either. Lilbern Wilkerson (L.W.) Keen, born in Sullivan County in 1823, opened a successful daguerreotype studio in Jonesborough in 1847 that operated for 54 years. In 1872, The Jonesborough Herald and Tribune wrote that viewing Keen’s portraits was like “reveling amid the beauties and enchantments of fairy land.”
Tennessee craftsmen like Daniel Adams added photography to their list of other services. Originally from Ireland, Adams was an established engraver in Nashville when photography became popular amongst his network of wealthy patrons. In 1846, a local newspaper article announced Adams had requested R.M. Freeman of New York City to remain in Nashville longer to showcase the new photographic process. In 1847, Adams advertised that he could produce his own photographs and offered a refund to customers “if taken better by any operator in Tennessee.” In the photo of the unidentified woman above, he staged a studio advertisement with his name and city near her elbow.
Unidentified Man and Woman, 1849 to 1855, Dan Adams, Davidson County, Daguerreotypes, 2024.20.3-.4
Daguerreotypes are unique positive images. No negative is created during the photographic process, and the image cannot be reproduced. Before a daguerreotype is captured, a silver-coated copper plate is polished until a mirror-like surface is revealed. The finished plate reflects peripheral glimpses of the viewer while the embedded image is viewable from a straight angle. Because of material and labor costs, a single daguerreotype may be the only visual record ever created of some Tennesseans. In 1848, one Nashville studio advertised $3 cased daguerreotypes, about six days wages for many farm laborers in Tennessee.
As technology improved in the 1850s, photographs known as ambrotypes and tintypes were sold as lower cost alternatives. Ambrotypes were printed on glass instead of silver-coated copper plates. Tintypes were produced on durable iron plates and processed in minutes. Using these techniques, photographers documented the rapid changes experienced in Tennessee before, during, and after the Civil War.
Lucy, 1854 to 1860, Photographer Unknown, Ambrotype, 2022.17.1
Early photographs of enslaved individuals are rare. An ambrotype of a young girl identified as “Lucy” descended through the family that enslaved her before the Civil War. Part of Lucy’s story was documented in an accompanying bill of sale. The document recorded the 1859 purchase of Lucy for $647 by Thomas J. Waggoner of Davidson County. Census records indicate Lucy adopted the last name Waggoner after emancipation.
The Hunt Family of Shelby County commissioned this portrait of their daughter in the care of Catherine Hunt around the time of the Civil War. Images like these reinforced the stereotype of Black women as devoted domestic servants. Additionally, the presence of Black caretakers in photographs communicated to viewers a families’ wealth, status, and political beliefs.
Catherine Hunt and Hunt Family Child, 1850s to 1860s, Photographer Unknown, Tintype, 1999.130
Today, these photographs offer a peripheral glance into the complex lives of enslaved Tennesseans and those who were employed in similar service roles in the decades after emancipation.
The popularity of photography, as a medium for portraiture and documentation, increased greatly during the Civil War. Photographers moved outside the traditional studio, often following the opposing armies with portable equipment contained in wagons. It is estimated that roughly 1,000 photographers captured the events and individuals of the war. Tintypes were increasingly popular among soldiers due to their durability. Given the toll of the war, some of the tintypes from this period could be the last images taken of many subjects. Tintypes of members of the Kimbro Family of Williamson County, who joined the Confederate infantry during the Civil War, are featured in the exhibition.
Members of the Kimbro Family, 1855 to 1865, Photographer Unknown, Tintypes, 1998.13.3,4,6,7
Printing-out processes also emerged in the 1850s, allowing photographers to develop images using light instead of chemicals. Because this process produced negatives, the images could be reproduced relatively inexpensively. Photographers used this method to sell commissioned prints as well as cards known as carte de visites in sets featuring landmarks, celebrities, and major events for $2 to $6 a dozen. While portrait photography was a major source of income for many early professionals, others utilized transportable darkrooms to create images on the go.
The Linn Brothers’ studio operated for decades after the war in Hamilton County. Although primarily known for their numerous photographs of Civil War soldiers, their location on Lookout Mountain attracted many patrons and provided an opportunity to pose in front of one of East Tennessee’s many striking landscapes.
(L) Point Lookout, 1868 to 1878, J.B. Linn & Co., Hamilton County, Carte de Visite, 2006.37.1.28
(R) Robert “Royan” M. Linn on Pulpit Rock, Lookout Mountain, 1864, Linn Brothers Studio, Hamilton County, Carte de Visite, 2012.254.4
Photography in a New Century
Increased access to photography led to more diverse groups engaging with the technology as creators and sitters. In the era of portrait photography, having one’s picture taken was an important event, and Tennesseans wanted to look their best. Clothing was implemented to express social status and personal values. Photographers used clothing and other props to enhance the studio experience and the final image.
Katie Sinnott, 1880s to 1900, Otto B. Giers, Davidson County, Cabinet Card, 2002. 33.16
In the segregated South, the growing presence of Black run studios provided an avenue for more Tennesseans to share their images using photography. Self-styled photography allowed Black Tennesseans the opportunity to portray themselves in ways that challenged stereotypical caricatures in popular media. The power to capture family photographs was a major shift away from slavery’s legacy of separating families. Using photography, families captured visual records of their loved ones in hopes of preserving memories for themselves and future generations.
Unidentified Family, 1900s to 1920s, Photographer Unknown, Photographic Print, 2008.6.8
James P. Newton was the first Black photographer to operate his own studio in Memphis. In 1890, he briefly formed Newton Bros. Photography with his brother Charles before apprenticing at the Bingham Bros. Studio on Main Street. In 1897, Newton reopened his gallery at 121 Beale Street then relocated to Main Street.
Unidentified Couple, 1918 to 1930s, Boyd Browder, Knox County, Photographic Print, 76.201.3
Photographer Boyd Browder was born in Knoxville in 1867. At the age of 41, he opened a photography business from his home on West Hill Avenue. The Knoxville Negro newspaper praised Browder’s studio as “the Mecca for most of Knoxville’s colored population who had photographs made.”
Unidentified Woman, 1880s to 1890s, W.S. Lively, Warren County, Cabinet Card and reverse side, 1997.2.222
At the turn of the century, accelerating interest in photography encouraged technological advancements and led to the establishment of professional institutions dedicated to training aspiring photographers. W.S. Lively began his career as a photographer in the 1870s. In 1904, he opened the Southern School of Photography—the second school of its kind in the United States and the first in the South. Located in McMinnville, the school spanned 64 rooms on a four-acre campus. The school provided opportunities for men and women to learn photography as a trade before it was destroyed by fire in 1928.
Rainbow Hawkeye No.2 Model C, 1913 to 1930s, Eastman Kodak Company, 2001.65.262
From the daguerreotype onward, the first century of photography in Tennessee was revolutionary. Photography quickly became a modern innovation — made more so with George Eastman’s patent of his hand-held film box camera in 1888 — that allowed Tennesseans to document themselves, their families, and their communities. Ultimately, the men and women behind the camera helped to democratize photography. In Rainbow Hawkeye No.2 Model C, 1913 to 1930s, Eastman Kodak Company, 2001.65.262 doing so, they not only captured and influenced how we view history, but they set the stage for the future of photography in Tennessee.
Tranae Chatman is the Tennessee State Museum Curator of Social History.
