Photography by Jack Hartley
Jack Hartley is a UK documentary photographer and film maker. His portraiture which focuses on the people of Britain looks at life just the way it is. It captures life and people exactly how we are. But not a harsh manner, allowing the photos to speak for themselves they have a light-heartedness.
People outside the confides of London, those on the outskirts of society. The normal people who have just as much an interesting tale as anyone in the spotlight.
Shooting a “Lancashire lad in a field” last summer. His Instagram posts offer a small window into a very large story. Letting the audience into a snippet of the whole picture. Making his photography alluring. There is a humour to his snaps, photos with a yellow overtone, shot on film with a modern crispness. There isn’t a sense of being well thought out which is what makes them brilliant. They simply show life in the moment.
What a lot of people seem to miss with documentary photography is trying to seek the image. They look for the interesting image or the really great angle with brilliant lighting. It’s not about that. You shoot what you see, living in the moment. It’s an eye that takes a photograph. Whether what you see is interesting or not, your aim as the photographer is to shoot what you see all the time. And this is the essence of Jack Hartley’s photography. It’s a feeling within the photograph that he goes everywhere with a camera. Not leaving the house without it. And having this feeling within a photograph is something a lot of photographers don’t understand.
Jack Hartley is someone who will continue to capture life in Britain exactly how it is. The curious people, artists, musicians and ordinary people around him. He shows a culture, a society often forgotten. A life that is often portrayed by other photographers in a gruesome and harsh light. A manner built upon showing it for the art reasons and not in the honest way it should.
Hartley is a documentary photographer showcasing British life in a superb snapshot.
Commentaires