Sepia-toned photograph of a bustling 19th-century Mississippi River dock. Dozens of steamboats with tall smokestacks are lined up along the riverbank. Numerous bales of cotton and horse-drawn carts fill the docks in the foreground.

A Closer Look

The Antebellum Photographs of Jay Dearborn Edwards, 1858–1861

A fascinating collection of some of the earliest photographs of New Orleans

A historic photograph of a New Orleans street scene from 1858-1861. People stand along the sidewalk beside trees and buildings. The image is part of A Closer Look: The Antebellum Photographs of Jay Dearborn Edwards collection.

A Closer Look: The Antebellum Photographs of Jay Dearborn Edwards, 1858–1861

HNOC 2008
softcover • 9" × 10" • 104 pp.
80 color images
ISBN 978-0-917860-52-2

From 1858 to 1861, when the art of photography was itself only 20 years old, Jay Dearborn Edwards (1831–1900) scrupulously documented antebellum New Orleans in images. Edwards chose a range of subjects as the focus for his arduously produced photographs, with special attention paid to commercial activities in the bustling southern city. Pictures include views of Esplanade Avenue, today’s towering oaks just young saplings; a view of Decatur Street with an endless line of steamboats at its docks; and Canal Street before its modern incarnation as a bustling thoroughfare, instead shown as an idyllic city street complete with a pastoral neutral ground down the center. A Closer Look provides an intimate view of New Orleans before the Civil War.

Even though early photographs depicted ostensibly familiar subjects, they presented the viewer—quite literally—with something never before seen. Hybrids of pure science and pure miracle, they inspired both trust and awe.

View of Canal Street, from Bourbon, looking toward the lake, 1856–59. HNOC, 1982.32.15

American aloe or century plant, 1856–59. HNOC, 1982.167.4

Bird’s-eye view of Garden District from fire tower, 1856–59. HNOC, 1982.32.9

View of Canal Street, from Bourbon, looking toward the lake, 1856–59. HNOC, 1982.32.15

American aloe or century plant, 1856–59. HNOC, 1982.167.4

Bird’s-eye view of Garden District from fire tower, 1856–59. HNOC, 1982.32.9

Related Collection Highlights

A cropped view of a photo montage of the Braughn family in New Orleans. Individual photos of family posed in various positions are arranged in a way that makes it appear they're in the same photograph.

Braughn Family Photomontage

A dramatic composite photograph depicts a prominent New Orleans family in high style.

Learn More

A person stands outdoors, holding a translucent fabric over their head against a textured wall. The shadow casts an intricate pattern on the wall. A potted plant and some grass are visible in the foreground.

Clarence John Laughlin Archive

Through his dreamlike black-and-white images, the surrealist Louisiana photographer explored, amplified, and commented on the mystique of the South.

Learn More

A city street is heavily flooded, with water reaching building heights. People gather on a section of dry road in the foreground. The skyline of a city with high-rise buildings is visible in the background, partially obscured by mist.

7:28AM August 30, 2005

One photographer’s look at a city waking up to disaster.

Learn More

Related Virtual Exhibitions

A vintage, sepia-toned portrait in an ornate frame shows a woman seated next to a young child. Both wear 19th-century clothing. The frame features intricate floral designs and sits next to a decorative velvet-like cover.

Photography & Photographers

From Daguerreotype to Digital

A look at over 20 different photographic processes and techniques represented in HNOC’s holdings, from the daguerreotype to the digital prints of today.

View View