MEREDITH HATCH

The story of this photograph is the story of my life. I'd have to write a small book to do it justice. In respect to brevity, I'll add how crucial the study of Portraiture has been to my life, creatively, and in general. I met Meredith Hatch in a little tiny home-made ice-cream parlor, Wellesley, Massachusetts---1988. I was still a brash twenty-six year old, armed with my camera and my audacity. I somewhat had to be audacious at certain instances, in order to quickly get over whatever discomfort or painful shyness was loitering in my head. Fortunately, my desire to create world-class art won out over my self-doubt or tendency to avoid being misunderstood as to my intentions, which is simply to make my art using people I don't necessarily have a formal relationship to. So , when I see a unique-looking person, I may introduce myself, and tell them straight up what I'm interested in doing, and how they could help me, and be a part of it, not just a subject. Approaching strangers with the idea of having them partake in one's artwork can disturb some people in the societal climate we find ourselves in. I'm sensitive to their concerns, of course, and yet my life-long respect for what a great artist can achieve gives me that little shot of courage I find I need to approach someone cold. If I lacked the wherewithal to take a chance on people I find fascinating, I would have missed a ton of opportunities to know several giants who changed my life, and made it more enriching and interesting. Meredith Hatch was such a person. Even though she was only fifteen or sixteen, her mother had her call me, and handle the initial questions. And she was a genuine young miss, who was so fun to hang out with for the hour we spent in her family's backyard, autumn day, Wellesley. Beautiful home, beautiful family. This picture is one of about 100 I shot that morning. Silver gel from 35mm neg.

CLICK PHOTOS TO PROCEED TO NEXT PAGE