About
| Duncan Hartley Biographical Summary |
| A trip to New York in 1957, Leica M3 and Rollieflex in hand, was a homecoming. This center of cultural energy drew me, almost magnetically, to Greenwich Village and Times Square where streets have personalities, potential fills the air, and everyone seems to be doing something purposeful. Years later, Grand Central Terminal drew my attention as an index of the City's sense of itself. Little Italy, I found, enjoys huge crowds for the eleven days of the annual San Gennaro Festival, leaving behind a somewhat diminished neighborhood with a lasting identity. After the Bicentennial, my day-job took me away from New York for twelve years. My wife and I had a place near Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, for 35 years, and this area, rich in revolutionary and literary history, became a constant and living inspiration. The Roots of the Revolution portfolio is still in progress. Seeing into places and people, finding and capturing an essence, a glimpse of irony, timelessness, and everyday pleasures and anxieties, especially in a cultural context: this is the signature of my work. New portfolios will focus on Alphabet City and more of Grand Central Terminal. I now live near Princeton, New Jersey, and have a professional digital darkroom in my house. COLLECTIONS: The New York Public Library The New-York Historical Society The Harry Ransom Center The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum Mrs. W. D. Snodgrass Lilly Library of Indiana University Vicki Goldberg |
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