Title: Sewanee No. 17, from the series Found Baseballs
Photographer: Don Hamerman.
Statement: “I began collecting these baseballs in the winter of 2004-2005. Discovered in the park near my house where I walk my dog daily, they went unnoticed by others. Abject, rejected and forlorn, their state depended on the season of their discovery. Some hid in the high grass, gutted by lawnmowers, or under leaves, rotting, the leather skins long since decomposed. Covered in ice crystals on a February morning or shrouded in summer moss, they all hinted at mysterious pasts.”
“Although I knew that one day I would photograph the burgeoning collection, most sat along a shelf in my studio for nearly a year before the exploration started. At last, I decided to photograph them above a flat field and with deep depth of focus, revealing, as much as I could, their distinct resumes.”
Don Hamerman is a photographer based in Stamford, CT. His images have appeared in publications worldwide. Clients include graphic design firms, ad agencies and non-profit institutions, as well as individual authors, actors and artists.
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Don on several projects at Taylor Design. When we first met, Don showed me the baseball series that he was working on. Of course I was intrigued. He went on to explain — in his reserved, modest fashion — that while he was a seasoned commercial photographer, he was only recently an up-and-coming art photographer. He immediately affirmed my belief that while not all photographs can be considered art, all professional photographers are in fact artists. Don can be soft-spoken because his photographs speak volumes.
Prints of the Found Baseballs series can be purchased here. View the rest of the series and more of Don’s professional and artistic work at www.hamerman.com.
