Photographer Feature: Lauren Hare
“An ongoing project of both fabricated and documentary portraits of women.”
From the Artist:
I have gravitated towards people older than me for as long as I can remember; as a child, admiring my teachers and parents’ friends as much as my own peers, if not more. Over the years, I have continued to have friendships and relationships with people of all ages, some of my longest friendships are with people 30-40 years my senior. As a woman, I deal with discrimination symptomatic of my culture, and as I look to the future, I am also aware of the obvious ageism that awaits me.
When I started photographing people regularly in my early 20s, I was focused on portraying women in my peer group, as well as self portraits. I am now in my early 30s, and a couple of years ago came to realize that continued focus on photographing people of that age group (20s) was now unnatural to me. This was a natural and healthy evolution in my judgement and art-making process. As a result, I have become more and more aware of the honor and responsibility as a visual artist in what I add to the visual conversation.
‘See Her’ is an ongoing project of both fabricated and documentary portraits of women in my life, women I have met in the arts, and female strangers that I have come into contact with in my travels and daily life. Inspired in part by my intergenerational relationships and friendships, ‘See Her’ was motivated by the great tragedy that women over a certain age eventually seem to feel: INVISIBLE.
I am not surprised by this, and my work simply honors women over 50 years who are more-than-honorable subjects. ‘See Her’ is an ongoing project that will take years to unfold, shedding light on the complex and rich layers of life; strengths and vulnerabilities, personality, interests, passions relationships and love. I hope to grow this project over time into a larger, diverse and collective representation therefore bringing visibility to the sacred elder years of womanhood. May we all be so lucky as to reach our own inner richness over time.
Note: there are also images in this feature from my ‘Still Life Portraits’ series, a series I created which combines portraiture and traditional still life elements in a visual, harmonious union.
If you wish to see more of this project, join my newsletter, commission a portrait, or inquire about a limited edition print, please contact me at www.laurenhare.net or info@laurenhare.net
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Lauren Hare is an American artist whose work explores concepts of identity, womanhood, the intersection of private and public life, and emotional landscapes through her portrait and documentary-based photography. Hare is a prize winner of the 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition and a finalist in the resulting exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery opening in October in 2019, her work has been featured in international print publications including She Shoots Film and ArtAscent as well as numerous online publications. Hare has been exhibited nationally, her work has been curated on SF Museum of Modern Art’s online platform, and is a Gold Artist on Vogue Italia’s PhotoVogue. She earned her BA in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus in Imagery-Sustained Healing, a degree she designed examining the
benefits of self-portrait photography as a practical and non-verbal modality for self-expression. Hare is based in Portland, Oregon.