Alicia Hart remembers the moment she fell in love with photography with total clarity. ‘I was nine, and my mother bought me my first polaroid camera. I could only shoot ten shots, and I remember the disappointment when the film ran out. It was the way it magically appeared, and the fact that that chemical process is happening right there before your eyes.’ And, touchingly, the very camera that sparked Hart’s love of photography now lives in her 4-year-old daughter’s bedroom, and is evidently being put to good use. ‘She’s a real inspiration. I’ve kept diaries of the pictures she takes as she grows up. What I love is that rather than just having pictures of your child smiling up at the camera, you’ve got a record of how the world looked to them at that time. We work together collaboratively.’ There is a dream-like quality to Hart’s work, which one can imagine applying beautifully to the book she’s currently trying to find funding for. ‘It’s about Epping Forest which is ancient, and the only forest in London. It’s all man-made, with nine lakes, and there are keepers who ensure it is only used in a certain way, and no one is misbehaving. Also the land is protected, and instead of getting smaller, it gets bigger every year, because people bequeath plots to it. Val Williams is writing an essay to accompany the images I’ve been taking – I’ve had amazing access, and have been guided by some of the old-school keepers.‘ And when she’s not navigating her way around the lesser known pockets of the forest, Hart can be found picture editing at national glossies and newspapers, but perhaps most impressively of all, she is nothing if not community-minded. As well as working with local dyslexic kids, she also produced photographs with art director Peter Stitson for last year’s Gifted Auction, which raised £21,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust and Kids Company.
Most influenced by:
Louise Bourgeois, Alfredo Jaar, Rineke Dijkstra , Alec Soth, Joel Sternfeld and Sarah Jones.
