Today I am sharing an interview I did with Jersey City writer and photographer Grant Hardeway. This is a new interview series I am calling Artist in Residence.
I heard this great quote on the web recently: “On the bright side, I am no longer calling this shelter-in-place. I am now an artist-in-residence.” It got me thinking about how times of adversity and challenge are often what inspire action and creation for us artists.
I decided to seek out some peers whom I admire and ask them how they are using this time to be working artists. What has changed for them? Where are they finding room to create at home if they previously worked in an offsite studio, out-of-doors, or are now sharing a home studio with other working-from-home family members? What are they creating now – is it influenced by the current situation or on a similar path as before? Are they feeling called to action or struggling to create?
Everyone is responding differently to this crisis. Let’s learn how others are coping with their new status as Artists in Residence.
A little bit about this video: Grant Hardeway is a photographer who lives and works in Jersey City, and whose work I found on instagram. In this interview Grant discusses his earliest artistic project (an art class stunt that turned out pretty successful), the importance of intention when he’s photographing the world, and his reluctance to call himself a photographer. He talks about using both film and digital, his love of composition and light, and the power of photos to evoke a mood or feeling and a memory of another time and place. We discuss the duty that artists have to document life (especially during crisis times like today) and also the importance of slowing down and being more aware of life. Grant is a very thoughtful person and I absolutely loved speaking with him. I hope you enjoy!
You can learn more about Grant and see his gorgeous work at: https://www.instagram.com/digital_taxidermy/
