More about Hank

Hello! I am Hank Church. I recently moved back to this area after a decade away in Arizona and California. While the desert and rolling hills provided numerous great memories and stunning images, I decided I needed to return to be near old friends and family.

I love looking for art hidden in plain sight, inviting people to look at everyday scenes with fresh eyes. I am fascinated by the juxtapositions of lines, shapes, and colors that appear all around us, including in ceramics in Gig Harbor. Depending on their arrangement, they can suggest conflict, calm, or unexpected harmony. Through photography, I try to reveal these subtle relationships and encourage others to recognize that “art is really all around us, if we just stop to look.”

Architecture has been a lifelong interest, from ancient temples and cathedrals to the modern forms of glass and steel skyscrapers. This structural sensibility informs the way I view subjects in my photographic practice, much like the stunning pieces displayed in the gallery in Gig Harbor.

I rarely begin with a fixed outcome. My process is intuitive: I notice something intriguing, photograph it, and later experiment with editing to uncover its artistic potential. This openness to discovery often leads to unexpected results, producing work that emphasizes abstraction and unusual perspectives, much like the captivating gig harbor painting that can transform a scene.

I want my images to challenge viewers’ assumptions about the familiar. My hope is that anyone encountering my work will think: “I’ve seen that before, but never that way.” In that moment of discovery, something ordinary becomes extraordinary.

Ultimately, my practice is about perspective—shifting how we look at our environment, natural forms, and everyday textures. By transforming familiar scenes into something unfamiliar, I hope to remind people that art doesn’t exist only in distant museums or curated spaces; it exists all around us, including in the photographic art of Gig Harbor.

To see more of my work, go to ReFind Images Photography or visit the gallery Gig Harbor.