Happy November! It’s Victoria here again with this month’s Featured Artist, Frank Hamrick. One of our most well rounded member artists, Hamrick has a tremendous amount of experience in the creative arts. We had the chance to ask him about his creative processes, inspiration, and education regarding photography and bookmaking.

As a tintype photographer and book artist, Hamrick’s work features meaningful content inspired by objects, the surrounding environment, and the human experience. He implements his photography series into his bookmaking, some of his popular works include series such as A rabbit runs in a circle, It was there all along, and My face tastes like salt. You can view or purchase his work by visiting his website: http://frankhamrick.com/home/

1. When/how did you discover your passion for photography?

I started photographing when I was ten-years-old and continued to photograph more and more as I realized it was a way to have a role in groups and activities I would otherwise have been excluded from. Most of my childhood friends discovered their interests for sports, music, etc. early on, and I realized those kids would always be ahead of me if I tried to follow the same pursuits. No one in my circle of peers had discovered photography yet, so I was not under anyone else’s shadow.

I took a photography course in high school and decided it was what I wanted to study in college at the University of Georgia for my BFA and then later as well when I earned my MFA at New Mexico State University.

2. A large amount of your photographic work is in response to southern life and culture. What draws you to that region? How does the South inspire your creativity?

I grew up in the American South and returned here to work after living in New Mexico, Maine and Italy. The South’s environment, food, and culture are familiar to me since I am from Georgia. With that being said, I have lived in and visited enough places throughout the South and elsewhere to recognize and understand the variations existing throughout the South. The landscape of Appalachia is obviously different from south Louisiana, but so are the accents and the culture. I believe I am at a point where I am informed to a certain degree that I can make work about what is special about the South and also how it could improve and grow.

3. What subject is the most meaningful for you to photograph?

I could respond with people, or landscapes, or dogs, or vinyl records, but the real answer is I photograph subjects I respond to emotionally whether it is positively or negatively and I hope my audience relates to that emotional response even if their approach is from a different perspective. An example would be I do not expect viewers to become attached to photographs of my family because they are relatives of photographer Frank Hamrick. I hope that photograph of my relative strikes a chord with viewers by making them think about their own friends and family.

4. How did you discover your passion for bookmaking?

I interned at Nexus Press in Atlanta while working at and attending classes at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens. At Nexus I was able to make a limited edition book of my photographs and then took a papermaking and book arts course at UGA. Those opportunities help me understand a book can be its own work of art rather than simply serving as a container to hold recreations of artworks.

I noticed how people responded differently to my photography when it was presented in a book compared to viewing it framed on a gallery wall. Holding the book and turning its pages, seeing images paired together on page-spreads, creates an intimate experience. Also the book format allows me to combine text with imagery and include materials and processes, such as handmade paper and letterpress printing, to create these refined pieces of work I feel function similarly to albums of music where a series of smaller works, images/songs, are selected and sequenced to create a larger piece of work, complete with cover art and liner notes.

5. How does teaching at Louisiana Tech influence your own creative growth/inspiration for photography and bookmaking?

Teaching means I am always learning while I help students figure out how to achieve a certain idea or to problem solve what went wrong when a project did not go as planned. The fine arts are visual languages, alternate ways to express and communicate ideas and feelings. When I am working with a student, I am trying to challenge them but also help them figure out how to convey their ideas. Working with the students at Louisiana Tech University School of Design helps me grow. Each student’s project is like a math problem we are trying to determine how best to answer, which makes me stronger when I come home to my studio to focus on my own artwork.