Anthony Attardo

Stories of Quiet Resolve

“Stories offer an outlet for individuals to defy their anonymity, provide solace, and empower

themselves and others.” — text from a recent Portland Museum of Art exhibit.

These photographs, made at night, explore the quiet resolve and resiliency of the people who live in small towns across New Hampshire.

Although there are no people in these photos, nevertheless they contain signs of a calm, steady human presence—footprints on a darkened basketball court, an empty small airport waiting room, two chairs representing the possible remnants of a past conversation.

Each photo extends an invitation to the viewer to contemplate who might live in these spaces, to feel their presence, and imagine their voices. Each one is a small part of a larger story.

As the American novelist John Steinbeck has said: “You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself.” I hope you can feel the people of these small New Hampshire towns in these photos.

: Hampton, NH

: Two Chairs, Nashua, NH

: On The Way Home, Peterborough, NH

: Midnight Basketball, Nashua, NH

: Strand Theatre, Dover, NH

: Parked Out Front, Franklin, NH

: Parked Out Back, Derry, NH

: Airport Waiting Room, Plymouth, NH

: Welcome Race Fans, Hudson, NH

: All Night Long, Gilmanton Iron Works, NH

About

Anthony Attardo is a New Hampshire based photographer. He is passionate about using his camera to illustrate the essence of the day to day found in small urban and rural spaces, and as a means to bring people together.

From an early age, the conversation at the Attardo family dinner table wasn’t about food, it was treating people with dignity and respect no matter where they were in life, what they looked like, or where they came from. Today, this powerful lesson is the driving force of Attardo’s photography. His photographs tell stories from a personal perspective, and his images reveal a belief that respect and humility are the greatest common denominators.

Attardo’s photographs have been exhibited at the Vermont Center for Photography in Brattleboro, VT, the Kimball Jenkins School of Art in Concord, NH, and the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA. He has studied at the New England School of Photography, the New Hampshire Institute of Art, and the Photography Atelier at the Griffin Museum of Photography.

He is inspired by Alan Cohen’s words, “Do not wait until conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes conditions perfect.”