Interview: Sam Hartman

I met Sam less than 6 months ago. We both spoke at the PechaKucha event in November 2017, and connected right after. He shared his interest in photography, so we planned to get together.

We met up with another photographer friend a couple months later to talk shop, share how we edit, and  discuss other photography questions we had for each other. (More proof that I don't believe in competition!)

We've kept up ever since, and I'm so happy Sam agreed to let me interview him!

How long have you been a photographer? What kind of work do you do?
That's a tough question to answer, because I feel like the lead-up to being a "professional" photographer has been years. Where does one draw the line between critiquing iPhone photography and editing in Lightroom? I've been taking photos ever since my parents showed me what a camera was, but I suppose my first foray into the world of DSLRs and detachable lenses was about 16 months ago. From there, it's been a nearly insatiable addiction.

What is your favorite thing to photograph? Why?
It is often someone's face when they are laughing. I think there's a fair amount of research on why this sight is so pleasing to humans, but in particular for what I do, I feel as if it's one of the rare moments where a subject isn't concerned with "how they look," which typically results in a more generically photogenic, and pleasing shot. In our world of Photoshop and Facebook it is incredibly difficult to ask someone to appear natural. We're all aware, so hyper-aware of how we look and compare ourselves to others constantly, that to see someone have an unconscious response to a word, phrase, or joke, and capture that, is perhaps the only real thing left to photograph anymore.

When was the last time you felt frustrated about your work as a photographer? How did get get past it?
Ah, I am frustrated almost every time I edit my photos; the lighting wasn't good, that photo is blurry, there's someone in the way, etc. Put bluntly, this is why I almost always shoot with "burst" on. I don't trust myself to take good shots. I only believe that if I take enough, a few will come out. The locations and places I find myself into to take photos are often quite genuine, but it is often the technology, or my inability to understand the technology, that gets in the way of capturing the truth of the situation. This, however, is compared with the nearly flawless photos that are displayed to us on the Internet every day; a very difficult trophy to compare our own work to.

Do you have a muse? (This can be a person, a city, an Instagram account, anything!)
I like to imagine that my best photographs are simply stills from a movie that has never been made. Thus when I look for inspiration for my photography, it is as much to look at what happened before and after the photo as it is the moment the shutter clicked.

What's something you haven't yet learned how to do yet (in photography), but want to learn soon?
That thing where you take a picture of someone and it looks like they weren't aware they were having their picture taken? Yeah, that.

So happy to have connected with Sam. :) Check out his work!
Happy Friday!
​Autumn