May 4 – 27, 1989
It has been said that I see the world from the perspective of a visual anthropologist, as well as a photographer. Traveling back roads, side streets and alleyways, has always informed much of my visual language.
My philosophy is that a camera should be an extension of the hand and the eye rather than some ominous, intimidating thing. I consider the camera to be my sketching tool – just like a piece of chalk.
In the 1980’s, after moving from the East to the West Coast, I began exploring with a panoramic/extended frame format camera. This allowed me to better understand how we view the world. The field of human vision is 140° with emphasis on the horizon and a much wider view than most cameras allow – a view that is especially well suited to the vast expanses of the Southwest.
Although human activity and nature have significantly altered this landscape, my intent has never been to just reveal the destructive changes. I try to somehow acknowledge the predicament without suggesting easy solutions or that solutions are even necessary. I find these altered places have a beauty all their own. The ruins and despoiled landscapes speak to me with a character the modern mall does not possess.
Timothy Hearsum received his BFA from Ohio University and his MFA from the Visual Studies Workshop (Program in Photographic Studies), State University of New York. He has served as art faculty at SUNY Brockport; Rochester Institute of Technology; UC Santa Barbara and Brooks Institute of Photography. He also served as Curator of Photography for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.
His work is in numerous public, private and corporate collections including the Museums of Modern Art in New York and San Francisco; the Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego; the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; the International Museum of Photography, George Eastman House, Rochester; the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. and GettyImages.com.
He has published several photo books: Road Trips in 2001, Affinities in 2019, and fourteen chapbooks through Blurb.com between 2011 and 2024. His images are also included in many periodicals, art and photography books.