Meet Martell Hardy: Photographer & Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Martell Hardy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Martell, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk taking? For any artist, risk taking is key to becoming closer to success. That doesn’t mean finding something you like and just dropping everything to do it. You have to LOVE it! Life advice from Vince Camuto, “if you’re not happy get out of what you’re doing…find your passion and love it not force it.” I dropped out of college my sophomore year because I knew exactly what I wanted to do with photography. That was the biggest risk I took to further my career. My mom didn’t understand it at first. She was like “now what?” I just kept telling her to trust me. In my head I have no plan b, I know being an artist is exactly what I want to be. Theres a lot of people nowadays who want to be an artist for clout or the instagram likes. That sh*t never mattered to me, I create for myself. It’s a learning experience most of the time.
Recently I became a film photographer in 2020. Which means I only shoot with analog photography cameras. I took that year off. With Covid happening I sat back and really studied the great. Gordon Parks, Irving Penn, and Bert Stern just to name a few. I sacrificed a lot of time and money for this art career I want. As soon as this year came around I was eager to pick up my camera again.
I recently photographed my beautiful friend and muse Tootie. The shoot was very intimate and something people never seen in my city, Pittsburgh. I used all my money for film, the house we shot at, and also to get everything developed. As an artist thats a risk you have to take if you want to create personal work. No doubt you’re going to go broke many times, but thats just the process if you really want to do this sh*t.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I keep it raw as an artist. We live in a “sensitive” world now. So you have to watch a lot of things you say and show. Im very proud that I can be myself when creating. I dont fake it, if that makes sense. Not everyone can do this. I got to where I am today by putting in the time and doing my homework. I went from doing $60 photoshoots to being sending and being sent invoices to and from brands and agencies. Im only 22 and I have so much more to do and learn. If I had any advice to give someone I would tell them to just be a good person. I promise, that will take you very far.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Favorites spots in the city…hmmm. Im from Pittsburgh, so theres not much but hanging with me you will definitely have a great time. I love skating! So we would forsure hit that up on a Thursday night when they play soul and r&b classics. On a Saturday, we would go to the Andy Warhol Museum then after go get food at Ichiban. Literally. my favorite hibachi place currently. Then Sunday we would walk through Squirrel Hill, and just enjoy the great pizza spots and the many parks you can explore. The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to give a shoutout to WaveBeast, another great visual artist and great friend. Im around many artists everyday! Man! Shoutout to my music artists friends 1SIS, Zende, NLS Ron, and Saiko. They have so much coming to them. They put in time and effort and know being an artist is no joke. Lastly, my múses…Tootie and Jay. Those two girls keep me inspired everyday by just existing!

Website: https://www.martellhardy.com/

Instagram: @tellhardy