The Tennessee State Museum’s latest temporary exhibition, "Photography in Tennessee: Early Studios and the Medium’s First Century," opens June 10. The show explores the origins and impact of photography in Tennessee, highlighting the state's social and political history through the medium's early development.
The exhibition features a selection of photographs from the Museum’s collection – among them tintypes, ambrotypes and daguerreotypes – that include some of the earliest surviving images from Tennessee.
The works offer a glimpse into the lives and landscapes of 19th-century Tennessee, taken by photographers who established the state's first studios.
Studios at the forefront of the industry included: the Linn Brothers’ studio, whose location on Lookout Mountain allowed patrons the opportunity to pose in front of one of East Tennessee’s prominent landscapes; Black-run studios like James P. Newton, the first black photographer to open a studio in Memphis; and Boyd Browder and Lilbern Wilkerson (L.W.) Keen, who successfully opened a studio in the small town of Jonesborough.
“Photography in Tennessee tells the story of the photographers who captured the first images of Tennessee and its residents,” said Exhibition Lead Curator Tranae Chatman, Tennessee State Museum curator of social history. “Visitors can view more than 200 items that were created during photography’s first 100 years from 1839-1939.”
Among the highlights of the exhibition is an ambrotype of the city of Knoxville, one of the earliest known images taken of the region. Also included are rare photographs of enslaved persons, portraits of a variety of Tennessee residents and images documenting the Civil War. Also showcased are devices central to the medium’s history, like the Rainbow Hawkeye camera which signaled increased accessibility to photography.
The exhibition looks at the advancements of early photographic processes and their impact on portraiture, documentation and artistic expression in Tennessee. As the medium gained popularity as a modern innovation and became more widely available, artists and locals were able to capture memories and moments in time. These images now provide significant insight into the state’s visual history.
“We hope that this exhibition will allow visitors to reflect on their own role in capturing the history of the state,” adds Ms. Chatman, “be it through their families or communities, using photography.”
Photography in Tennessee will be on view through Nov. 9. For more information and select images, visit https://tnmuseum.org/temporary-exhibits/temporaryexhibits/photography.
Celebrating its 88th Anniversary in 2025, the Tennessee State Museum at 1000 Rosa L. Parks Blvd. in Nashville, adjacent to Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park on the corner of Rosa L Parks Boulevard and Jefferson Street, is home to thousands of years of Tennessee art and history. Through six permanent exhibitions titled Natural History, First Peoples, Forging a Nation, The Civil War and Reconstruction, Change and Challenge and Tennessee Transforms, the Museum takes visitors on a journey – through artifacts, films, interactive displays, events and educational and digital programing – from the state’s geological beginnings to the present day. Additional temporary exhibitions explore significant periods and individuals in history, along with art and cultural movements. The Museum is free and open to the public Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays from 1-5 p.m. For more information on exhibitions and events, visit TNMuseum.org.