A 1938 picture of Five Points from Hunter Clarkson’s archives. Hunter Clarkson can show you what Five Points looked like way before his time. His archives of thousands of photographic negatives have documented the buildings, cars, and people of Columbia’s neighborhood hangout since the 1920’s.

“I bought the old Alt–Lee Photography Studio in 1976,” he says. “It was around the corner

from the Star–Reporter newspaper, and Miller Montgomery came by right after I moved in to welcome me to the neighborhood.”

The Star–Reporter was the newspaper which became The Columbia Star.

Alt–Lee, owned by Kenneth W. Altfather, had been a fixture there for decades. Columbia’s wedding albums and family records are filled with Alt–Lee pictures. Hunter Clarkson has carried on, and expanded, that tradition for local events, although he no longer photographs weddings.

“I have the negatives for more than 70,000 photography jobs stored. Each job has from 20 to several hundred negatives. And now with digital photography, no more negatives – but even more jobs on record.”

He says that his sixth grade teacher at Brennen, Mrs. Pendarvis, took the class to Charleston, and he met up with his first Brownie camera. It was his first step on the road which has been his life ever since college. He can look back on many stories of adventure like aerial photography, now used mostly for real estate clients. “A professor of art at U.S.C., Dr. Howard Woodie, hired me to photograph one of his experiments which involved launching dozens of mylar balloons. We followed them in a plane, which twisted and turned a lot trying to keep up with them. We were in the air more than three hours, and I was airsick from the first 10 minutes. An unforgettable experience!”

Maybe more than other business enterprises, professional photography has changed drastically over the years. “I bought the first digital camera in South Carolina – paid $40,000 for it, in 1994. It included a week of training. Now, with digital cameras, everyone is a photographer,” says Clarkson. “Some can achieve good results with everyday equipment. No more film, no more darkroom equipment. That’s all obsolete except for the specialized niche of the collector’s market.

“A professional with a digital camera has know–how which can make the most out of its potential. We call it ‘virtual tools.’ High–end printing, true color reproduction, high resolution for publication, these are the things an amateur can’t produce. We can personalize a presentation to meet the needs of builders and lawyers and other professionals.”

After nearly 40 years recording Columbia’s life, Clarkson is looking forward to retirement. His partner John Powell plans to take over the business, and the Clarksons expect to spend time at their mountain home in Little Switzerland, N.C. “I studied art and was a painter before I ever got into photography,” he says. “I want to use that time to paint some more.”