I first met Hunter last year at the Eddie Adams Workshop. We happened to be seated next to each other on the bus, and during the ride she told me about her work. Although we didn't get many chances to talk again over the rest of the weekend, her work stayed with me. I've continued following her on social media ever since, and I've been excited to see her developing a new body of work. That's one of the reasons I wanted to invite her to participate in this interview.
Hunter, it's an honor to have you here. Could you tell us about your current project?
I'm working on a long-term project called The Green Hours. It's built out of weekend trips and long roadtrips with friends, and it explores freedom, intimacy, and adolescence as they shift with time. A lot of it comes from watching myself and the people around me move from being kids with few responsibilities into adulthood, and asking what it looks like to hold onto that sense of freedom as the weight of responsibility grows. It's less about any one place and more about those in-between moments on the road and away from routine, where that freedom still shows up.
The Green Hours started with my friend Irene. When we were sixteen and seventeen, we'd take any chance we got to go camping or drive somewhere, even if it meant sleeping in the car and not showering for days. It was some of the best time of my life, because no one was watching us or telling us how to be. I wanted to hold onto that feeling, and this project grew out of trying to keep chasing it, and understanding what it means to carry that same freedom into adulthood, when responsibility starts to take up more space.
I love the way you describe holding onto that feeling of freedom as you grow older. How does photography become part of that process?
All of The Green Hours is shot on film, which feels essential to how the project moves through time and memory. More recently, I've started making collages out of the images, using printer paper and whatever else is around. It's a way of letting the work stay hands-on and unfinished, closer to how the trips themselves felt, thrown together, a little rough around the edges, and made out of whatever was available at the time.
I have to say, I'm especially interested in the collages, so I included one at the end of the interview. Before we talk more about your process, how did you first pick up a camera?
I first got into photography when I was fifteen, after my grandparents bought me a film camera. I had no formal introduction to it, I just started photographing my boyfriend and our friend group at the time. Looking back, that instinct to point the camera at the people closest to me has stayed consistent ever since, it's still what draws me to the work today.
That really comes through in your work. It all feels so personal and intimate. What does your creative process look like?
My creative process follows the seasons. I shoot mostly during the summer, or whenever I'm outside, and I try to keep that going through winter too, though I don't push it if it's not happening naturally. Winter becomes the time to print and scan everything I've shot. I don't want to waste a moment indoors when I could be outside making memories and documenting them, so the shooting stays tied to being present in the world, and the darker months are for slowing down with what I've already made.
What place does analog or alternative photography occupy in your life? Is it part of your work or more of a hobby?
It is the only way I know how to move through life.
Now for a few questions that the photo geeks will appreciate. If you're not one of them, don't worry. What camera and equipment do you usually work with, and how did you find them?
I mostly use a Leica M4 which I got off a favorite old professor of mine called Karl.
Do you have a favorite film, and if so, what makes it special to you?
E100 is my absolute favorite for its tonalities and how technical it requires me to be.
I know you primarily work with film, but I'm curious. Do you ever shoot digitally? How do you think about the differences between the two, and what makes you choose one over the other?
I use iPhone when I've run out of film.
In collaboration with Ben Berthea — top-left B&W
I have to say, I don't think I've ever gotten "an iPhone" as an answer before. I love that. To end our conversation, I'd love to know: who are some of the artists that have shaped your work and the way you see the world?
Robin de Puy and Justine Kurland, mostly. The way de Puy builds intimacy and Kurland's work with women and landscape, that tension between freedom and belonging, it resonates deeply with what I'm trying to do. Eugene Richards and Joel Meyerowitz as well. Richards for the rawness, Meyerowitz for the way he sees light and color as emotional forces, not just formal ones.
Hunter, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your work. If you'd like to see more of her photography, be sure to follow her on Instagram, @huntkats.