DALLAS – If photographs could tell a story, then the images Dallas Police Lieutenant Sharise Hadnot is capturing can tell thousands of emotional tales.
“I want to show the community what we are beyond this badge,” Hadnot said. “I also want to let them know that we are still here to serve them.”
Lieutenant Hadnot has been working in law enforcement for nearly 22 years. However, one of her special passions is photography.
“When I take the images, I look for the emotion,” she explained. “I look for those stories. I look for that moment in time.”
The moments she captures translate into special memories that she is now sharing in a special exhibit at the Janette Kennedy Gallery at Southside on Lamar. The exhibit is called, “Beyond the Badge and Still Serving.”
From photos of police paying tribute to fallen officers, to life on the beat, the pictures on display are the emotional moments from an officer’s eye.
In one photograph, Hadnot was drawn to the innocence of a little girl standing at a police memorial last summer.
"She really caught my eye because she was standing right in the middle of a bunch of adults,” Hadnot explained.
It is an image that reveals so much. "She was just standing there, so innocent. All of this chaos and confusion and everything that happened all around her,” Hadnot added.
Hadnot’s photo project started about five years ago, at the height of controversial police shootings across the country.
Then there was July 7, 2016, when five officers were shot and killed in Dallas. Hadnot says her project took a more meaningful turn.
"I want them to know, number one, we are all human," she said.
Through the exhibit, she says she is aiming to show different slices of police life and their connection to communities. There are photos of officers living out their hobbies, championing through injuries, caring for their children, and engaging with community members.
The photographer’s ultimate hope is that people walk away with some type of connection.
“I hope that they look at one of these images, and they see themselves," Hadnot said.
The exhibit opens at 7 a.m. each day. It runs through May 30 at the Janette Kennedy Gallery at Southside on Lamar, 1409 S. Lamar St., in Dallas.