Book Description
This biographical sketch introduces a significant Southern portrait photographer of the 19th century. In 1817, Esley Hunt was born in the rural mountainous area that would later become Johnson City, TN. (His childhood home, the Henson Hunt House, is listed on the Carter County Historical Register.) In the late 1840’s, Esley moved his family 220 miles to Chapel Hill, NC, where he would eventually become that town’s first studio photographer. He owned a house in Chapel Hill and 100 acres in Mebanesville (now Mebane). In 1859, Esley purchased a second portrait studio in Raleigh and acquired a 60 acre estate just west of the capitol city. In early advertisements, Esley stated his commitment to create art – notable in an era when many considered photography to be more of a technician’s itinerant occupation than an artist’s profession. By the late 1850’s, he and his artistic partner, painter Joshua P. Andrews of New York, were receiving numerous photography awards at the North Carolina State Fairs. After North Carolina joined the Confederacy in 1861, Raleigh became a gateway for soldiers and Esley continued to operate its primary portrait studio. Civil War portraits by Mr. Hunt and Mr. Andrews remain highly valued by collectors, and are invaluable to historians, genealogists, and descendants. The State Archives of North Carolina have referred to Esley Hunt as "one of the Civil War's most prolific and talented photographers in North Carolina," and some photography historians consider him to have been among the best in the South. (Originally published in 2018, this biographical sketch was the first to describe Esley Hunt's personal life and family.)
