Hunter Barnes

Hunter Barnes (b. 1977) is a fine art / documentary photographer whose work captures aspects of culture and communities ignored by the mainstream and often misrepresented in the modern American narrative.

Hunter trained in photochemistry and traditional photographic techniques. At a young age, he began a nomadic life on the road. In his early twenties, Hunter published his first book documenting the dying communities of the Old West. Other projects followed: four years spent with the Ni Mii Puu, Nez Perce Tribe; months with a serpent handling congregation in the Appalachian Mountains; bikers, lowriders, and street gangs; inmates in California State Prison. Intense, true pockets and sub-cultures of America.

The process is an integral part of Hunter’s work. He shoots exclusively on film—the pace of analogue in harmony with his approach. Fundamental to Hunter’s work is the journey, the people, the place. Then committing them to film before they are greatly changed or gone forever.

Hunter has published seven books with Reel Art Press and two further self-published volumes. His work has been shown in galleries in the USA and internationally since 2001 and is housed in the permanent archives of Middlebury College Museum of Art (VT), New Mexico Museum Of Natural History, Palace Of The Governors (NM) and the Rubenstein Rare Book And Manuscript Library, Duke University (NC). His work has been featured in publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, i-D, Wall Street Journal and American Photo.