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by Sean Rayford

As we sit down to talk about his photography exhibition, opening tonight in Five Points, I ask Daniel Hare if I may have photographed him "sledding" down University Hill half a decade ago. He tells me we talked about lenses and upon further inspection of the archives, yes, our paths crossed on the same day my roommate bloodied his face "sledding" down that hill on an office chair.

As we try to recall that snowy day, Daniel hears a skateboarders’ wheels rolling on the sidewalk of Main St. blocks before I do. He jokingly refers to it as “Skatedar.” Not surprisingly, Hare’s photography has consistent themes around skateboarding, along with humans and their personalities.

winter-weather-photos-columbia-sc-283(1)Winter weather in Columbia, SC by South Carolina photographer Sean Rayford. February 12, 2013

"But this isn't that. There are two people displayed in the show but their faces are not visible,”  says Hare about his exhibition, adding that there are also only two skateboarding photos. Instead, Hale was sparked by an image of a street scene he made in Chicago in 2017, a construction site with smoke and windows that reminded Hare of fun house,

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I put things together contextually, “Hare says about his approach to selecting the images, “I had an organizational process looking through hard drives. Just really, really, really looking through. The dirt bike led to the three wheeler, led to the Lincoln Continental. I don't believe it's random. The first photo might have been random but then it just compounded.” He says a big part of it was finding photographs that he had overlooked.

The opening reception for Hare’s exhibition is Thursday night at Bluetile Skateboards in Columbia, SC. According to the artist “The 20+ framed prints all reflect fleeting moments in time pulled from being on the move, traveling, and pursuing storytelling through photography. However, the selected images are not those stories. These photos serve to be keepsakes from the "big picture" and for whatever rhyme or reason, drew considerable interest for being special in their own right.” Accompanying the photos are 24x36 posters designed by Hale and printed with The Half and Half.

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