George S. Cook

American photographer

George Smith Cook (February 23, 1819 – November 27, 1902) was an early American photographer known as a pioneer in the development of the field.

Primarily a studio portrait photographer, he is the first to have taken a photograph of combat during a war: he captured images in 1863 of Union ironclads firing on Fort Moultrie in South Carolina during the Civil War.

For a decade he moved throughout the South and other cities, living for a time in each.He would train students in photography, sell his studio to one, and move on.

From 1849, he became skilled in daguerrotype technique after settling in Charleston, South Carolina.He specialized in portrait photography.His first wife died in 1864, and he married again soon after the war.

Cook is known for having amassed a large collection of photographs of figures of the Confederacy and the South, as well as the city of Richmond, Virginia, where he lived from 1880.

His sons George LaGrange Cook and Huestis Pratt Cook also became notable photographers, and the younger particularly contributed to the family collection.

George S. and Huestis P.Cook were honored in 1952 with a major exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, entitled Southern Exposure.

In 1954, during the directorship of Virginia McKenney Claiborne, The Valentine acquired much of the Cook collection, a total of 10,000 images, mostly glass-plate negatives.

From July to November 2019, The Valentine had an exhibit of 40 photographs from this collection.Some 1400 images are available online.

Related People

Andrew J. Russell

American photographer

Peter Britt

American photographer

James Wallace Black

American photographer