Black Artist Matter!!!

Nicholas Anglin| July 20, 2020| 12:00 p.m

Meet Tell Hardy, a 21 year-old upcoming photographer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I had the opportunity to ask him some questions pertaining to his work, himself, and how essentially supporting black artist intertwines with the Black Lives Matter Movement. Art is important, it records and showcases history. Ignoring or whitewashing black artistry, which is done often in America, aids in the silencing of black voices. A recent study done in 2019 shows "that 85% of artists [in museums] are white and 87% are men" and not much has changed since then. We should not leave black artistry to be showcased in only black history museums. Minority artist are often ignore or stereotyped, as we can see by  the "Oscars so white", and how the only time black women are seen in big roles is if they are playing common stereotypes, such as  the "Tragic Mulatto", the "Mammy" and the "Jezebel".  It is important that we as a society amplify black artist voices and works and this starts at home. Lets meet and support Tell Hardy!!!!

1. In a few words, describe yourself.                                                                                                                                                 I would say...calm, cool, and collective. I'm genuinely a very nice person and that's one reason I believe a lot of people respect and love me. I was raised in the hill district and was very active as a kid. As in active I mean like going to summer camps, playing sports and just doing kid things lol. I loved drawing and coloring when I was younger. I don't know where any inspiration came from at the time but...I just loved doing it!
2. Tell us about your Podcast, Long time, what made you want to start it?  So, last year around Thanksgiving I binged a lot of podcasts for some odd reason. Each one of them related to something different in my life, but none had everything in one. So I had this idea of making a podcast where I was able to talk about anything that came to mind. Fastforwarding to this year, one night I got drunk and decided to just make the intro episode to the podcast. Released it the next day and surprisingly people were actually fucking with it! So from there I recorded the first episode with my friend WaveBeast (local artist), which many people loved as we talked about photography, haters, and just chatting it up. That's really the main goal of this podcast. I just want to have honest conversations with artists and give them a chance to talk about things or even feelings they never get to express. 
3. College experience, what made you drop out? College college college. Definitely a love and hate relationship. Many people don't know, but going into college my freshman year I went in on a film scholarship. Loved filmmaking and still do! Met great friends and even professors who I still keep in contact with. But tbh college just wasn't “It” for me. I was stressed and doing things I didn't want to, such as going to other classes I had no care for. Going on to sophomore year, I switched my major to photography. It felt more like “Me.” First day of class we had to submit a picture of our works to the professor to be displayed on the projector and introduce ourselves to the class. Keep in mind that I'm in an Intro to Photography class. So many students there were learning for the first time. It was my turn to speak as my image came on the projector and the class just got quiet and loved it. Skipping to the end of the semester, my photography professor really loved my work and I told him I don't think I can waste my next 3 years here in college. He was very supportive in my decision and that's what really motivated me to drop out. But long story short I learned many things from my college experience. I would never tell anyone to not go to college, but I will say don't let family and friends force you to make an important decision about your life. Take your time kid, college will always be there.
4. ​Photography….How’d you start? Beginning of my freshman year of Allderdice...yeah. The PS4 had just dropped! Me and my friend Maliek who went to City High, had decided to make Youtube videos. We would record ourselves role playing on Grand Theft Auto. We made these hood tales. Short little movies where we would reenact what happened in the hood...but on the game. So that's how I learned editing and storytelling. From there I bought my first camera because I wanted to actually start doing videos in real life instead of the video game. Throughout my highschool years I was shooting music videos and taking pictures. When my senior year came to an ending, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life...kinda.
5. What’s the hardest thing that you’ve had to deal with as a black artist?​ Me personally, I don't deal with much. Shit happens in life. A Lot of it is small, like people hating. But that's always going to be the case anywhere. But one thing I came across this year was people not booking me as much because I raised my pricing. I didn’t want to deal with cheaper clients, I wanted to deal with people that were willing to spend money and weren't rushing me every second to finish a project. Yes I get fewer bookings. But when I do get a booking I'm satisfied. I don't know what it is about being a  black artist, but it's like people expect you to lower your prices because you're friends with them. But hey...that's life i guess.
6. The biggest stigma of pursuing art as a career, especially within the black community? To  keep it short and simple, it's our parents. They didn't grow up just wanting to be artists because there wasn't that much money in it. But now we have so many resources on the internet. People are getting paid off instagram posts...that's still wild to me. I'm going to say this as a black man who is pursuing a career in the arts. Be any artist you want. Teach your parents. Show them what you're working on, I promise it will make things easier. That's why I came up with the saying “My parents won't understand my art career until I'm successful.”
7. What’s the work(s) your most proud of?

Hmmm. That's a hard one. It changed everyday to be honest. Some days I don't even like my work. But lately I have been loving my portrait of Jay, my muse and best friend. She hates it because she thinks she looks mean, but I told her that's emotion. That's what makes an image, tells a story...you know?

     8. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? With everything going on in the world right now, I don't really know. I know for sure I want to move to Atlanta next year to expand my art works. But right now things are tricky with this pandemic going on. I am working on a solo exhibition for next year! Im very excited about that. It will be my first solo show, so I'm taking this time in quarantine to research and learn a lot.
    9. Why is supporting black artists a huge factor in furthering the Black Lives Matter Movement? It's our time! Sadly it took this long for people to realize. The world is changing. I'm very proud of the Black Young and Educated movement you all started. To be coming out of highschool, your minds are amazing. Keep that shit up! CHANGE is all I want at this time, and I know others do too. 

1. A Quote

“It's up to you to take yourself to the next chapter in your life”



How to support Tell Hardy!!!!
Cashapp: $TellHardy
Venmo: @tellhardy