About the Artist
A self-taught photographer who lives and works in Hamilton, ON. After receiving an MSc in Kinesiology and being accepted into medical school, Hartman decided to pursue a career as an artist. He apprenticed with Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky and has received numerous awards, including grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. His work can be found in several important collections including the Art Gallery of Hamilton, McMaster Museum of Art, and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre.
About the Works
I moved to Hamilton, Ontario, in 2007 from the small rural community of Lafontaine, Ontario, where I had lived for most of my life. I found the city to be disorienting and confusing so I began to photograph Hamilton as a way of understanding my new home.
In 2008 when I began to photograph Hamilton the Great Recession had begun and the steel factories, long a symbol Hamilton, were being taken over by foreign companies who were downsizing the operations. Sensing a shift in Hamilton’s dominant features I began photographing the surrounding landscape, and Hamilton's working class neighbourhoods. I was fascinated by the gritty personality of the people of Hamilton, having suffered through decades of poor economic conditions the Great Recession was business as usual for them.
I continue to photograph Hamilton as I remain captivated by the people and landscape that define this city.
