Prior to joining the faculty Hardin worked locally as a photographer and video editor for The Jackson Sun and internationally as Indigenous Outreach International’s Media Coordinator. Hardin received the Magenta Emerging Artists Award and the Magnum Photography Fine Art Award in 2016. He recently published his first book, The 13th Spring, and his work is being showcased at the Fototeca de Cuba in Havana, Cuba, and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans.