| Birth Name: | Curran Hatleberg |
| Birth Date: | 1982 |
| Birth Place: | Washington D.C. |
| Nationality: | American |
| Known For: | Photography |
| Training: | Yale University, MFA Photography |
| Awards: | 2015 Magnum Emergency Fund Grant, 2014 Aaron Siskind Foundation Individual Photographer's Fellowship Grant, 2010 Richard Benson Prize for Excellence in Photography |
Curran Hatleberg is an American photographer.[1] He attended Yale University and graduated in 2010 with an MFA.[2] Influenced by the American tradition of road photography,[3] Hatleberg's process entails driving throughout the United States and interacting with various strangers in different locales. His work was included in the Whitney Biennial 2019.[4]
While speaking about his practice Hatleberg explained,[5] Driving is an integral element to how Hatleberg creates his work and he frequently discusses this when asked about his photographic practice,[6]
In a published conversation with fellow photographer Matthew Genitempo, Hatleberg noted that
According to Hatleberg, his photographs are intended to function as "a fiction that is more real than reality." Hatleberg's roadtrips are lengthy and his editing process doesn't occur until later on - "I don't look over anything until I've shot hundreds of rolls."
During an interview with the Birmingham Museum of Art Hatleberg articulated that he identifies most with "an American tradition of photography—from Walker Evans to William Eggleston. They are my heroes, but it's undoubtedly a different time. I think it's essential to take from tradition without being bound to it—to author one's own time."[3] In 2015, Jordan Teicher wrote in Photograph,"Hatleberg's photos succeed as social documentary, but to see them only that way ignores their freewheeling poetry, and their lack of any sort of useable, concrete information."[7] Hatleberg has also discussed fiction writing as an influence on his work, "After reading, everyone you pass on the street becomes fascinating or mysterious; the scenery shifts and everything seems infused with potent meaning."[8]
In 2015, TBW Books published Hatleberg's first monograph, Lost Coast. Throughout the series,[9] Hatleberg spoke of the project and explained that
In 2022, TBW Books published Hatleberg's second monograph, River's Dream. The work was shot between 2010 and 2020 in the American South. With 65 pictures, "Hatleberg centers his narrative on the dog days of summer. Sweltering heat, dripping humidity, lush vegetation, and screaming insects". The book includes essays by Natasha Trethewey and Joy Williams. [10]
Hatleberg has taught photography at Yale University, Cooper Union, and the International Center of Photography.[11]
Hatleberg's work was featured in the 2019 Whitney Biennial. The curatorial statement by Rujeko Hockley and Jane Panetta details, "Much of the art that we selected for the 2019 Biennial was steeped in socio-political concerns - an engagement important to us as curators - while at the same time remaining open ended and hopeful."[14] PBS Newshour reported "In a deeply divided America, the artists chosen by curators Panetta and Hockley exhibit a quieter tone than in the past. " [15]