The Arts on the Coast in partnership with Great Oaks Bank
is proud to present Through the Eyes of Eric Hartley, A Photographic Collection, a black and white photography exhibition that features over 25 extraordinary images from Hartley’s personal collection.

COMPLETE SHOW DATES

June 3 - October 27, 2022
Open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
The Estes Gallery at Great Oaks Bank
42 Town Center Drive
Richmond Hill, GA 31324
(912) 445-6868
https://greatoaks.bank

For more information about Through the Eyes of Eric Hartley,
A Photographic Collection, media and/or press requests, please
contact Joy Dunigan, Arts on the Coast 2nd Vice President
on email or call (912) 398-5776.

Eric B. Hartley (1944 -2020) was a prolific American fine art photographer for over 30 years. His passion for photography took him to many locations in the U.S., Canada and Europe, but he was happiest on Georgia’s barrier islands such as Ossabaw, Blackbeard, Sapelo and Cumberland. 

Many of Eric’s captivating black and white photographic images expose the southern landscape, from majestic live oaks, rainy swamps and marbled dunes, to rivers, bridges and shrimp boats. Very instinctively, he used his camera and photographed the land around him. His deep commitment to the art of photography came from a struggle to see harmony and beauty in a seemingly disordered and sometimes harsh world. It is easy to see his endless fascination with the things man has left behind and his appreciation of the dignity that nature seemed to bestow upon these objects as they are reclaimed. 

His love for photography grew during his early years in college where his bathroom often served him well as a make-shift wet darkroom. For many years he developed his own highly acclaimed black and white, traditional analog photography.

Reluctantly, Eric joined the digital era mastering not only the camera and computer, but printing technology as well. With each photograph he strived for perfection, often meticulously reprinting images over and over again, until they were absolutely perfect. He obsessively matted and framed every image seen in this collection in order for them to reflect the feelings they evoked in him.

Eric studied under world-renowned photographer John Sexton, famed Savannah photographer Jack Leigh and SCAD photography legacy professors Craig Stevens and Tom Fischer.

Among many of his accolades are a shared two-man show with fellow photographer Curt Hames at Tybee Island Lighthouse as part of the 1996 Olympics Arts Ashore Festival; he exhibited at the Telfair Museum of Art; he won Best in Show at several Sierra Club Annual Photography Competitions, and was given a cash merit award at the Images Art Festival in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

His photographs have been published in several regional magazines and newspapers, including the cover of Richmond Hill Reflections magazine.

Eric’s images are showcased in many homes in Richmond Hill and beyond. One of his greatest joys was to see them hanging in the homes of friends. His images can also be seen in the Colgate Permanent Collection in New York, and are an everlasting tribute to the man and the land he loved.

Born in Washington D.C, Eric began his long career in financial planning and advising in Charlotte, North Carolina and retired in 2011 as First Vice President at Morgan Stanley in Savannah, Georgia. He and his wife Deanna, along with two daughters Cynthia and Christine, moved to Richmond Hill, Georgia in 1985.

Eric’s community accomplishments include being a past President of the Rotary Club of Richmond Hill and a Director at Coastal Electric Membership Corporation. He was also a dedicated member of Arts on the Coast and the Coastal Bryan Tree Foundation. He worked tirelessly, was a dear friend to so many and was humbled and appreciative of the honor of serving all of these organizations.