“Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you.” ~Jean-Paul Sartre
The spaces we inhabit profoundly shape our identities and perceptions. A dusty country road often molds individuals who cherish solitude and the quiet rhythm of nature, while towering glass and steel skyscrapers instill a deep sense of ambition and an embrace of urban life's frenetic pace. And while an individual born into a life filled with poverty and discrimination and person born into wealth and privilege may face different limits on the resources they receive, their own perception and response to reality is definitive in determining their life possibilities. It’s against this tapestry of place — physical and metaphorical — that Seattle-based photographer Jason Hendardy positions himself, camera in hand, poised to capture and explore the intricate ways our surroundings sculpt our sense of self and color our view of the world.
“So, in terms of what I'm looking for in Seattle is very much the definition of how I see contemporary life, conceptual ideas, like memories I have of what I thought American society or culture was like, and then trying to find photographs that touch upon that,” said Hendardy, “but with the understanding of me as an adult now, it's not as fantastical as we think it is. So, I think I want them to look beautiful, but I also have this idea of like, maybe there is a little bit of skepticism of certain things that we choose to fixate on in terms of photographs. … There's a lot of interest in kind of deconstructing that heritage of why are we even interested in these things.”
Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Artists Up Close to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
