Photographs by Hanno Hardt
Exhibition on view from: February 9 to March 24, 2019
Exhibition Curator: Mera Krese
An old house, made of wooden planks, likely already weathered, stands far on the horizon, telling a story of tranquility, family, and Sunday attire. The absent people in the photograph are loud in their solitude, perhaps even in their loneliness. A decaying fence that once marked the land carries a message of the ranchers’ dedication, of their transience – and ours. This is followed by another shot. A towering female figure with a camera in hand looms over a crowd of tourists. On the side, a woman hurries by, head bent, as if wanting to go unnoticed, alone – is she lonely?, she slipped into the photograph. The image is loud, and the depiction of loneliness is subtle. That’s why it moves us. Taken in another time, yet eternal.
“Today, it seems to me that Hanno’s photographic projects speak above all about time. About the passage of time and our transience,” wrote Ilija T. Tomanić in a tribute to his professor and colleague, Hanno Hardt.
The exhibition features photographs of hamlets in Iowa and a small neighborhood in Ljubljana. It weaves together intimate images, perhaps nostalgic memories of the author, and shots of Ljubljana, where the author steps into the background, allowing the city’s temperament and character to take center stage.
Hanno Hardt (1934–2011), a lecturer and publicist, taught for over 30 years at the University of Iowa. After retiring in 2002, he continued his academic career at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana. Through his teaching, theoretical reflections, and, of course, his photographic projects, he inspired the inclusion of street photography in the visual discourse on society.
“Street photography is a powerful, uncompromising personal expression of creative freedom,” Hanno Hardt once wrote. That’s why it’s particularly important that the photographs are original, vintage—exactly as the author intended them to be seen.
The exhibition is produced by the Photography Department at VIST in partnership with the Museum of Recent History of Slovenia. The curator of the exhibition is Meta Krese, Head of the Photography Department. The exhibition is supported by the U.S. Embassy.