Barbara Hazen’s portfolio was chosen as a work of merit in the 2025 Rfotofolio Call by juror Melanie Walker

.“This body of photographs is compelling in its ability to transform utilitarian wooden hat blocks into emotionally charged portraits of labor, inheritance, and time. The body of work seemed to be a unique approach to portraiture. By isolating and closely observing the blocks, the work elevates them from tools of trade to bearers of biography, allowing the grandmother’s presence as a milliner to be felt rather than illustrated. The accumulated wear—nicks, stains, softened edges—reads as a visual record of repeated gestures and skilled hands, suggesting a life structured by making. Formally, the photographs succeed in balancing sculptural clarity with intimacy; the blocks are rendered with enough precision to emphasize their distinct personalities, yet with a sensitivity that resists fetishizing craft. Conceptually, the work is strongest where it acknowledges absence: the grandmother is never shown, yet her history is inscribed in the objects themselves. At times, the series risks slipping into nostalgia, but its restraint and attention to material detail ultimately ground the work in a thoughtful meditation on intergenerational memory, women’s labor, and the quiet persistence of handmade knowledge.” Melanie Walker

We are pleased to share Barbara’s work and words today.

Would you please tell us about yourself?

I am a native of California, a mother, and a grandmother. I had a career as a pastry chef when I was young, and only got into photography seriously about 12 years ago. After years of digitally printing photographs, I felt I was missing the joy of hand-making prints. In the early 2000’s, I took workshops on various alternative processes, including platinum-palladium, cyanotype, tintype, and photogravure. I began refining a technique of Cyanotype over Platinum palladium, which I used for several portfolios. I then turned to photogravure printing, which is my current main focus.

Where did you get your photographic training?

My photographic training began with a beginner’s B and W darkroom class at our city college. It continued by taking workshops at The Image Flow on various alternative processes, including platinum-palladium, cyanotype, tintype, and photogravure. Once I built my own darkroom, I was able to experiment, refine my techniques, and work one-on-one with selected professionals.

Who has had an influence on your creative process?

That is not an easy question to answer, as there are so many artists who have influenced me. I stay open to all forms of art and learn about their processes and craft. However, I will mention Mikio Watanabe, a mezzotint gravure artist, who changed my trajectory by encouraging me to begin making handmade prints and print small. I met Mikio at the CODEX Book and Art Fair about 10 years ago. As I walked by his booth, a small, dark print of a woman with her hands over her face caught my eye. I circled back several times to look at it. I was dumbfounded to learn that it was not a  photograph but a mezzotint, which, at the time, I had no idea what that was. I bought the small 3-1/2 X 5-1/2 print and began learning about gravure processes.

Although it would be years before I began making photogravure prints, I began printing small. What I learned from Mikio’s print style is that a very small print forces the viewer to spend more time with it, rather than being hit over the head with a huge print, which was popular at the time. I now print larger than the 4 x 4.  I originally started with, but I consider more closely what size is appropriate for the image.

Please tell us about an image (not your own) that has stayed with you over time. 

Again, not an easy ‘one’ choice answer. However, I will mentionIrving Penn’s Cigarette No. 37. The platinum-palladium prints in the series are so exquisitely beautiful, almost textural. The simplicity of the subject matter really influenced me when making still lives. I learned that less is more in most cases. In addition, I fell in love with “Cigarette No. 37” for how he broke the image into four panels, making the singular object even more interesting.

What image of yours would you say taught you an important lesson?

“Nude Study #24”, from the series, “Genuine Beauty”, taught me a very important lesson to wait, slow down and let the magic happen. I knew from experience that what I had in mind initially with a prop and/or model generally didn’t work out as a final print—working intimately and equally with a model I found created a more successful outcome. As always, I brought many props to work with, including this handmade silk Victorian neck scarf to wear with a winter coat.  Initially, the model put it on as intended with no successful images, and we were going to move on when she threw the scarf around her head, and I saw the shot. This is by far one of my favorite images I have made.

Please tell us about the work you submitted to the 2025 Rfotofolio Call.

My great grandmother was a hat milliner in France in the 1800’s. My mother had a great respect for this family history and began to collect hat blocks, and I inherited her collection. The beautiful shape of these hat blocks has always interested me as a sculptural form. If I can quote Melanie Walker, “The accumulated wear—nicks, stains, softened edges—reads as a visual record of repeated gestures and skilled hands, suggesting a life structured by making… Conceptually, the work is strongest where it acknowledges absence: the grandmother is never shown, yet her history is inscribed in the objects themselves.”  My intention with this portfolio was to capture of bit of family history for generations to come.

What part of image-making do you find the most rewarding?

When photographing, it is that singular moment when you know you have finally found the
perspective, the light, the tension, the simplicity that makes for a good photograph. When printing, it is the delight of lifting a print, out of development or off the printing press and seeing a successful print with minimal flaws with only a hint of a hand-made piece of photographic art.

How do you work through times when nothing seems to work?

I have learned that my initial concept for an image often does not work, but it is a great starting point. I now only take 1-2 photographs at a time in the studio. I sit with them on the computer monitor to assess what is working and what is not, and I go back and adjust. If the image concept is a complete zero shot, I abandon the session to think about why it is not working: is the lighting wrong, are the props wrong? I save my props almost like a library for later, as was the case with “The Last Haircut”, from the portfolio “Bittersweet”. I had given my mother her last haircut and saved her curls. Months before I’d picked up this old scale from a flea market with no idea how I might use it. I emotionally knew the scale was a perfect prop for the ‘weight’ of a last haircut. It was only after photographing this image that I realised the scale was called a “Family Scale”.

What tools have you found essential in the making of your work?

Because my work is all handmade, in the end, the paper choice is essential for consistency. I
almost always use Hahnemühle Platinum Rag (for platinum-palladium prints) or Hahnemühle Photo Rag (for photogravure). Quality inks for photogravure is also important. There are many choices, but I prefer Izote, Charbonnel or Gamblin Inks. Finally, consistency is very essential. I follow a strict procedure for each photographic process including room humidity, paper preparation, chemical temperatures, coating and developing techniques, wiping and cleaning photogravure plates, to name a few.

Is there something in photography that you would like to try in the future?

Most of my work is created in my isolated home studio. I hope to begin travelling near and far to explore landscapes that interest me. I have no subject matter in mind at the moment.

How does your art affect the way you see the world?  

Because I am drawn to things that are often discarded or ignored by our modern world for my art, when I wander the world, I tend to shut out the chaos and focus on the view right in front of me. It is sort of a Zen approach to being in the moment. I find beauty in the old, decaying and rusted.

What’s on the horizon?

Up to this point I have only printed single colored, layered photogravure prints. I am very excited to try to make multilayered coloured photogravure prints this year. I have a project in mind and am working with a couple of professionals to help me bring it to fruition.

Thank you Barbara.

To learn more about the work of Barbara Hazen please click on her name.