About Dartmouth artist Hannah Minzloff
Biography
Hannah Minzloff lives and works in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia where she is actively involved in the local arts community. In 2012 she received a Presentation Grant from Nova Scotia Tourism, Culture and Heritage, in 2009 she was short-listed for the Mayors Award of Distinction: Contemporary Art. Her work has been exhibited locally and nationally, has been purchased by the Art Bank of Nova Scotia and is in private collections around the globe.
Hannah first studied photography in Montreal under the guidance of Clara Gutsche & David Miller. With an interest in mastering the technical elements, she worked in photography studios in Montreal, Toronto and then Munich, returning to Toronto in 1994 to earn a BAA in Stills Photography at Ryerson University. Throughout her career as a photo-based artist Hannah has continued to pursue both an aesthetic vision along with specific inquiries into digital imaging and design, to allow herself to grow in a contemporary world of image making and to give voice to her vision.
My Artistic Practice
I am a documentary photographer creating community portraits. In my photographic practice I document people, capturing moments in their day to day lives and in their places of work, often choosing subjects who live in accordance with my own philosophy, which embraces living simply, sustainability, supporting local enterprise and focusing on community.
The presentation of my work is a dialogue between viewer and idea, with exhibitions aimed at direct forms of connection with the public as illustrated by UNDERGROUND (2008) inquiring into the transient notion of human contact in mass transit– installed in the advertising spaces of public transit in Toronto and Halifax during both cities’ photography festivals; RoadWorks (2011) displayed in pedestrian zones near a mass transit terminal during Nocturne, presented the actions of summer road work crews - emphasizing the integrity and beauty in their labour, and Portraits on Main Street: The Dartmouth, Sydney and Yarmouth Suites (Craig Gallery 2012, then permamently installed at Alderney Landing 2013, Cape Breton Centre for Craft & Design 2014, Yarmouth County Museum & Archives 2014 (see images 01-10) the first three of five suites bearing witness to Nova Scotia neighbourhoods in transition, take shape through documentation of business owners working on each town’s main street.
Check out my feature page on the Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission website.
Through our company Truefaux, my husband John Hillis and I created six documentaries for the Halifax Central Library Share the Wow campaign.