Q: What do you think your work says about you that you maybe couldn't express with words?
A: My work is just an extension of my life. I hope it speaks volumes but I would also never hide behind it. Anything my work says, I can also say.
Q: Though male dominated, photography has seen a rise in women gaining notoriety. What has allowed for this change to flourish?
A: I still think it’s a very male-dominated industry and I’ve struggled a bit with this. One thing that maybe is changing is just the desire to see a new perspective, and brands/publications that I’m working with are realizing that they need to diversify.
Q: For those developing their confidence what advice would you offer for one to be able to achieve belief in their work?
A: I would say that finding your own vision is very important. You’ll have so many people trying to tell you how you should and shouldn’t do things and you can’t let that change the way you do things. There are no rules.
Hannah Sider wears Ray-Ban’s Aviator Evolve.
Check out the entire Evolve collection here.
“Finding your own vision is very important. You’ll have so many people trying to tell you how you should and shouldn’t do things and you can’t let that change the way you do things.
There are no rules.”
“You don’t develop an identity overnight and it’s something that, as a creative, you should always evolve.”
“I am always working to sustain my identity, it’s an ongoing process.”
Q: What has using film done for developing
your "eye”?
A: When you’re shooting with film you have to more carefully consider your shot because you’re not seeing
it immediately on the back of a screen and it’s literally money rolling through a camera.
Q: How did you manage to establish and sustain your identity through photography?
A: I am always working to sustain my identity, it’s an ongoing process. You don’t develop an identity overnight and it’s something that, as a creative, you should always evolve.
In a trade dominated by men, Hannah is one of many talented female photographers fostering more diversity within the industry. Shooting with a style that mostly utilizes 35mm film, her work artfully displays the imperfections and rawness that the medium attributes through her soft, sometimes diary-esque photos -- an aesthetic which she sustained through a photo-story that envisions two individuals in an adventure to relax in the slowness and beauty of Upstate, escaping the bustle of
the city.
En route, HYPEBEAST talked with the photographer to gain an understanding of her creative journey thus far.
Q: What first compelled you to delve into photography?
A: I got my first camera as a Christmas present when I
was 12 years old and became obsessed with documenting everything from that moment onward.
Q: How did growing up in Toronto and Malawi influence your style?
A: Growing up between Toronto and Malawi gave me
a wider perspective of the world and gave me a view
to things that were important outside of the fashion and music industry.
Q: When you first started out, what were your initial feelings about your work?
A: I knew I needed to learn a lot because I was self-taught.
Pressed down by the intense heat of a New York summer, we pulled over to the side of the road. Positioned behind her camera, Hannah Sider meticulously snapped pictures in the pursuit of completing her photo-story, while we craned over documenting the behind-the-scenes. Once done, we jumped back into the van to continue traveling upstate, while basking in the vehicle for a moment of air-conditioned refuge. Taking off her Ray-Ban Aviator Evolve shades, she slumped back in her seat, visibly exhausted from the sun’s rays, awaiting the next stop on our journey into the Hudson Valley.
A
Creative
Journey
With
Hannah
Sider
Breaking
The Mold:
