Behind barn doors and the winners circle is a place called the backside. Where dreams and dreamers of the Big Horse reside. I used to think this work was just about the unseen world of horse racing and those who worked on the backside. Somewhere along the way and over the years I realized it was about me as well. It is the one of the few places I can say that I have always felt comfortable, I am welcomed.
I know the work I know the backside banter, I know the people, the horses. I am not judged nor am I judging. Maybe it is my church.
Q&A with Sarah Hoskins
Photography is…
…my excuse. It is what allows me to be some place or meet someone I might not otherwise get to. Photography is my excuse.
Photography and writing…
Photography comes first for me, however I often find myself writing the story about the photo I took after. Often about the person in it or the experience I had making the photograph. Captioning is not something I am fond of.
Who left the biggest impression on you?
Dorthea Lange, Walker Evans and Lewis W. Hine.
Tell us a little about yourself
I was quoted a number of years ago in a photo publication that I am not an objective observer. That still holds true today. I tend to work on long-term documentary projects getting personally involved with those I photograph. I care about the people I photograph, their lives and what happens to them. I also say the reward is in the doing. Like this work here. I am rewarded again and again by getting to know someone I might not otherwise have the opportunity to if it weren’t for my camera. Sometimes their world becomes my own.
Sarah Hoskins (www.sarahhoskins.com) is a documentary photographer. Her photographs have been published nationally and internationally and are in numerous permanent collections.In March 2010 NPR’s Picture Show featured her Homeplace project, a month later NPR’s Weekend Edition traveled with her to Kentucky and did a feature on her and this work. The NPR Pictureshow piece received an end of the year award from The White House News Photographers Association.
She is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships.
