A native New Yorker, Hartman found her true calling for photography while working for the SoHo Weekly News. Her first glitz assignment was the 1976 wedding of Joan Hemingway, to New York restauranteur Jean De Noyer. Hartman's coverage was published on the cover of the Daily News Record, a prominent fashion publication.

She was one of the very early photographers—taking her camera where nobody else wanted to: backstage at fashion shows where the real excitement was. Her keen eye offered unprecedented visual entree to the creative personalities who transformed New York into the most fascinating city in the world.

For more than four decades, Hartman has photographed fashion and celebrity icons in some of the most legendary settings of New York nightlife, from Studio 54 to the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute Gala.

Hartman's work appears in The New York Times, London Sunday Times, Vanity Fair, Vogue, among many other international publications including fashion books.