Hunter D. Cone

I am a credentialed wire photojournalist, digital media strategist, and multimedia journalist based in the Washington, D.C. area, with deep roots in Savannah, Georgia. I shoot for the European PressPhoto Agency (EPA-EFE) and ZUMA Press Wire, with work distributed internationally through Shutterstock Editorial and published by CNN, CBS News, USA Today, and People Magazine. My wire assignments have included NATO troop deployments, White House events, and major political demonstrations across the D.C. metro area.

Photography runs in my family. My great-grandmother, Mary Alsten Newsome Johnson, was one of the earliest female photographers in Savannah. She began her career at Rich's Studio shortly after her 1939 graduation and went on to own and operate both Tooley-Myron Studio and Oglethorpe Portrait Studio for over sixty years, retiring at the age of 82. She was a pioneer — building and sustaining a professional photography business in Savannah across more than six decades, at a time when female studio ownership was genuinely rare.

My mother, Jennifer Cone, got her start working in Mary’s studio and eventually opened her own portrait company, PhotoJenics — a play on her name. She let me use her cameras, taught me the basics of portrait photography, and helped me land my first client. That’s really where it started for me. That legacy shaped how I was raised to see the camera: not as a hobby, but as a tool for documentation, presence, and purpose. My influences reflect that same seriousness — Pete Souza's access and restraint, Dorothea Lange's commitment to bearing witness, Steve McCurry's instinct for the human moment, and the contemporary urgency of Drew Angerer and Greg Miller.

My formal entry into photojournalism came at 14, when I was selected as a participant in the Savannah Morning News’ Spotted program — a community photography initiative that placed young photographers in the field alongside the paper’s professional staff. It was an early and formative credential, one that the paper discontinued after Gannett’s acquisition. A year later, at 15, photos I took at Laurel Grove Cemetery went nationally viral through WTOC, ABC News, and a dozen syndicated outlets. I wasn’t on assignment that day — I was just a kid who noticed something worth documenting. That instinct has driven everything since.

Growing up on the Georgia coast, I was always drawn to severe weather. I spent years chasing storms — tracking systems, documenting whatever the sky was doing, and putting myself close to things most people were running from. I have been through multiple hurricanes and responded as a volunteer during relief efforts in Albany, Georgia following a devastating tornado strike. That obsession is where Tornadocone Productions gets its name — a childhood production company born out of equal parts cameras and storm chasing, named long before either became a career.

I have covered the Ahmaud Arbery trial, presidential and vice-presidential campaign stops, Savannah city government, and breaking news from coastal Georgia to Capitol Hill. In sports and the performing arts, I have held official credentials with AMB Sports and Entertainment, shooting Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, and marquee events at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. I served as the official band photographer for the Georgia Southern University Marching Band from 2018 to 2019, then transitioned to a broader role with Georgia Southern Athletics covering multiple sports through 2022. I also spent a season as Tour Team Photographer for the Savannah Bananas during their national expansion. In the Drum Corps International world, I have documented the Blue Devils, Carolina Crown, Santa Clara Vanguard, and The Cavaliers, including two seasons of behind-the-scenes production work on the Blue Devils' InsideBD360 documentary series — one of the most recognized documentary franchises in the activity.

Before building a full-time media career, I spent nine years in public safety. I started as a junior firefighter at 16, became a certified EMT and full-time firefighter at 18, and went on to serve in law enforcement and emergency services across Chatham County. That chapter of my life closed, but it never leaves the frame. I read scenes quickly, stay composed under pressure, and understand the institutions I cover from the inside in a way that no classroom can fully teach.

Scouting is another thread that runs through who I am. I began with Troop 24 in Savannah, spending summers at Woodruff Scout Reservation and participating in the early land-clearing work that helped establish what is now Black Creek Scout Reservation. I later joined Troop 11, where I served in a leadership role as the troop's web developer and continued contributing to the ongoing development of Black Creek alongside the Order of the Arrow. I earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 2018 with Troop 11 — the culmination of more than a decade in Scouting. I am a Brotherhood member of the I-Tsu-La Lodge of the Order of the Arrow, Scouting's national honor society, a distinction that recognizes a lifelong commitment to service and brotherhood.

I currently serve as Digital Media Manager for Savannah City Council Alderman Kurtis Purtee (District 6), overseeing social media strategy and constituent communications. I have provided digital and campaign support to Mayor Van Johnson and several Savannah alderpersons. I am pursuing a B.A. in Political Science at Southern New Hampshire University and operate under Tornadocone Productions, my independent production company, founded in 2008.