FRAGILE
2020 - 2024
Hart’s most recent work Fragile is a personal and poetic reflection on nature made in the landscape close to Hart’s studio in the east of England. In response to the poem Trees At Night by the late Helene Johnson, poet and author of the Harlem Renaissance, Hart made work every month in the same locale over the course of four years. The aesthetic is rooted in the notion of a heightened awareness of the natural world, of both a physical engagement and spiritual connection to the land. Whilst becoming absorbed in this instinctual, visceral approach, Hart has become acutely aware of both the physical beauty and delicate vulnerability of these natural forms. Although concerns of the environment and sustainability are present throughout, the series goes beyond a central study of place to evoke an abstract ethereal sensibility.
In keeping with Hart’s longstanding practice to work in analogue, FRAGILE is made on medium format film cameras and printed by Hart as gelatin silver prints. The series which extends to around fifty pictures, was published by Dewi Lewis in May 2024 and nominated for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2025.
EXHIBITION PRINTS
FRAGILE comprises 51 pictures available in limited editions :
Silver gelatin prints :
Image sizes up to : 18 x 18 in / 46 x 46cm
Large-scale fibre based baryta prints :
40 x 40 in / 102 x 102 cm
Printed by Paul Hart
“Among many other resonant lines in Walden, Thoreau wrote, “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” These words find fulfillment in the dedicated, delicate vision of Paul Hart. While other photographers dash to the corners of the earth to “discover” something new, Hart has realized that the challenge of seeing is great enough on its own and can be realized by simply opening your door and taking a fresh look at the world which is waiting, right in front of you.”