"Dear Erin Hart": The life of a woman who stole someone else's identity

EVERY DAY PHOTOGRAPHERS AROUND THE WORLD looking for new ways to tell stories or to capture what we previously did not notice. We choose interesting photo projects and ask their authors what they wanted to say. This week we are publishing the project “Dear Erin Hart” by American artist Jessamine Lovell: having learned that another woman lives and commits crimes through her stolen documents, Jessamine decided to track her down and find out who she is and what moves her. A series of documentary images turned into an art project about the boundaries of personal space and the very concept of "personality".

My identity was stolen by a San Francisco resident named Erin Hart. "Dear Erin Hart" - a project created by me as a reaction to the crimes committed by it under my name. In an attempt to cover the criminal activities of Erin Hart, I photographed the places where everything happened, talked to witnesses, hired a private detective, and even took pictures of how she was released from prison. Using photography, video and other documentation, I tried to understand this woman and her motive, as well as explain which chain of events brought us to each other. The resulting project, Dear Erin Hart, is a message to the person who kidnapped my identity.

Having learned that a person commits actions that are absolutely not peculiar to me under my name, I experienced a range of emotions - from horror to rage. I found this out after receiving a subpoena — and I was terribly frightened that I myself somehow broke the law. Then I was horrified at the thought that they might accuse me of something I did not do, and put me in jail for it. After all the charges were dropped from me, I finally relaxed and allowed myself to feel angry. And then I decided to try to find her - this woman. My first intention was, of course, to whitewash my name. Police told me that this woman was arrested while using my identity card. When I came to the station to assist in the investigation, I found out from the police report everything that she had done. Then I hired a private detective to find her - because by law the police had to protect her rights and could not provide me with information.

I think the main thing in this investigation for me was an attempt to understand it. I wanted to see the situation from her side. With all my strength, I tried to maintain objectivity. As the investigation turned into an art project, I began to think more and more about the aspect of “private life” and take it into account. It seems to me that we live in a world where everyone has their own secrets - but if you want to reveal others, then nothing is impossible, provided that you have the time and money. While working on the project, I realized how inadequately protected our personal life is - and from this very uneasy. Anyone can dig up anything about another person. Just some information hidden a little better, some a little worse.

While working on the project, I faced questions of my own rights and advantages. Despite the fact that I grew up in a poor family and I still have to make an effort to be part of the middle class, I still have access to certain benefits that many do not have. I have a favorite job that allows me to have a car. I have a roof over my head and food on the table. Erin Hart is homeless at the moment, and I know what it is - I myself was in that situation. There is not only black or white in the world, it is impossible to evaluate everything from such positions, and the fact that this woman violated the law and went to prison does not make her a bad person. I think, taking up my investigation, I also wanted to understand - is there anything good in it? Maybe she just had to survive by any means.

She stole my identity card and rented a car for him, stayed in expensive hotels, committed thefts, presenting him. At the same time, I only moved to New Mexico and tried to start a new life there with my partner. We really had a hard time making ends meet. I worked as a salesman for two shifts in a row, just to feed our family, and my partner also screamed. I could not help but wonder why they did this to me? How could she? But the more I learned about her, the more I realized that we had one goal with her - to survive and be happy. She used my personality to do exactly the same thing that I was doing at this time - to start a new life. It can be said that both of us in some way acquired something in the process of this project - both I and she.

This is an art project, because I kind of mix truth and fiction. This is my story told from my side. I am a living person, and I have no opportunity to consider the facts comprehensively - this is not my goal. From my point of view, I use a range of tools and techniques to present the story. For example, in some of the pictures presented in the project, it may not be Erin Hart at all, or it looks unrecognizable to them - so the viewer asks if she is or not (as in my video "Searching"). I do not want to position this project as plausible. Telling the story that happened to me, I try to convey what I felt. I hope that viewers will be able to imagine themselves in my place and think - and how would they act? When publishing this work, I must also remain in the legal field and act within the law, which is very important to me. There are so many restrictions and regulations regarding privacy and defamation, so I’m extremely correct in presenting the facts and leave it up to the press to decide how to file this story.

All this time, and still I’m worried about the ethical dilemma associated with this project: shouldn’t I leave it alone? Do I have the right to show her life? The closer I get to finally meet her in person, the more I wonder if I should respect her right and desire not to meet with me. I think for the first time I began to feel empathy for her, watching Erin Hart get out of prison in March 2013. I witnessed only a fragment of her life, only partly seeing what she had to face and how hard she had to be. I felt guilty and thought about the privileges that I have and which she does not have. I realized that there was more in common between us than it seemed to me, and the more I learned about it, the more I understood that I am now in a different position because I took some other steps in life, and also thanks the environment in which I fell, and the banal luck. I wondered what exactly pushed her on the path that she chose, and that continues to move her. On the other hand, it is important for me to emphasize that I have no remorse for turning my own traumatic experience into art. This is an experience that I experienced because of this woman, and I am even proud to some extent how I dealt with this situation. She decided to use my documents, and I decided to act in response. All the time I turn my life experience into art projects. This woman simply did not suspect whom she had robbed. What she did was, in a way, a real gift for me.