Eric Hart

The Lives of Artisans

I've turned my camera inward to my own life, capturing the artists and artisans that work in the world of theatre and similar fields. I seek to showcase the surreality, the whimsy, and the drama that comes from a world backstage. In this world, work, art, and life can never be fully separated from each other, and likewise, my photographs never fully separate the subject, the viewer or the photographer. In some, the artists are fully unaware of my presence, in typical photojournalistic sensibilities, while in others, they engage with the photographer in a more vernacular sense. Their playful acknowledgments of being watched underscore the idea that their work will become part of a performance itself, while reinforcing the strong sense of play in this line of work.