This Is My Hartford: Andy Hart
By Nan Price, Content Manager, MetroHartford AllianceAndy Hart is a writer, graphic designer, and photographer at the Hartford News, a weekly community newspaper, and the Hartford Guide, a biannual magazine. A Hartford native, he shares about how he enjoys photographing and documenting the region.Why Hartford?ANDY HART: I was born here. I grew up in the Blue Hills neighborhood and lived there until 1985 when my parents moved to a smaller house in West Hartford. I lived in New Britain, Glastonbury, and West Hartford. I came back to Hartford around 1993 after I’d gotten a job at the Hartford News, which was on Franklin Avenue at the time. We recently moved to Arbor Street.I decided to live on Franklin Avenue after I’d been with the Hartford News for a couple of years. I really like the neighborhood, and it’s a community paper, so I figured it would be a good idea to be part of the community.What impact do you hope to make in the Hartford Region?ANDY: The main thing is through documenting, which isn’t something I’d planned on. It was just work I did for the newspaper and then I’d take nature photos for fun every once in a while.But through the years, because one of the newspaper’s unique selling positions is to cover all the different communities, I’ve gotten to know a lot of different communities—Guyanese, Portuguese, Ukrainians, Jamaicans, Bosnians, Albanians, and many others.
At first I took community photos for the newspaper and now I’ve built up this stock of photos that covers many things. It’s something for people to look at for years to come. I didn’t know it was history at the time, but it is micro history, I suppose.What makes Hartford unique?ANDY: It’s relatively small and it’s very diverse. You get to know each other, which is what I really like about it. I think finding out about these different cultures is fascinating.How do you tell the story of Hartford?ANDY: That’s a very good question. And I don’t know. I eventually decided it doesn’t matter. I’m just going to keep taking as many photos as I can and eventually donate them. What story they tell depends on who’s looking at them. I’ve always made the pictures I share on social media public so anyone can access them. Sometimes when people do, I see them in places where I didn’t think they’d be.I don’t know what communications are going to be like 10 years from now, let alone 50. And I think you need the source material, so that’s what I’m trying to provide. What happens to it? I don’t know. I can’t control that.