©Hank DeVito

 A STATEMENT ABOUT THE ARTIST
by John Baeder

I first met Hank DeVito a few years ago. He was taking a picture of Jim McGuire's photography studio. It was an energetic afternoon exchange, akin to the mating of three kindred spirits. Later, I recall seeing the finished print- Hank had given it to McGuire for a Christmas gift, and I was very moved with the image of an old "mom'n'pop" grocery store calmly nestled on a corner in a Nashville neighborhood. The picture had a haunting elegance and a quality that transcended time, and reality.

And that's what Hank does with his photgraphs- he "turns-the-corner" with reality and with his sensitive vision makes us see not only WHAT WAS, or WHAT IS, but WHAT WILL BE. This is his gift to us. He does what most concerned artists do that treat their subject (or object) with love and respect: elevate consciousness, open eyes, and expand hearts.

Hank is a warm, enthusiastic, and gentle person. He is also modest. It took a while for me to learn that he is a musician and songwriter with broad experience. Hank contributed greatly (and for a good while) to the giant talents of Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash and Rodney Crowell. Besides being in the respective bands, he has also done sessions for other major recording artists in Nashville. In between gigs, Hank writes, and his most notable piece is "Queen of Hearts" recorded by Juice Newton.

Hank continues to write and produce, but he has never lost the fact of the relationship between music and art. He is always taking pictures and knows how his vision is meshed with his musical endeavors. Intellectually and emotionally, his photographic statements are the embodiments of the creative spirit- all is one, and one is all.

Hank had the fortunate experience of a scholarship as a design major at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. This wasn't the beginning of his photographic moments. Like the majority of all deeply caring creative individuals, it all started earlier, somewhere else within the tenderness of childhood, nurturing parents, and an inspiring environment. Like Brooklyn, New York.

Hank was five years old when he assisted his father in the darkroom. His dad was developing pictures, and as he was watching the magic of the print appear, his wonderment and curiosity, only known to a five-year-old, moved on to his mother as he overlooked with more awe her color-tinting of these very same pictures. Little did Hank know then, but he was hooked. The cliche is true: "What goes around comes around..."

Initial early experiences have a profound effect on the photographs taht Hank is producing today. Structure and foundation is most evident in all of his prints, and Hank is open to his influences of masters like Steiglitz, Weston, and the most recent and loved guru- Ansel Adams. His vast knowledge of these geniuses are apparent, and vivid in Hank's photographs. He does not discount his need to be associated with the documentary greats of Evans, Lee, Rothstein, and others that contributed greatly to the FSA and WPA projects. Hank is also deeply indebted to many contemporary photographers, local and national. All of these people have enabled him to search, study, and move forward with intense clarity. Hank knows his peers well, and his humility acknowledges them with a compassionate and loving spirit.

Hank Devito has many more roads to travel with his multiplicity of talents. He will "turn-more-corners" in Nashville, wherever his music and art take him. We in the community are indebted to him for helping us expand our vision and our sense of preservation.

Personally, I can't wait for what's next on his prolific path.