Jamie Hawkesworth (b. 1987) is an artist who has become well-known for his nuanced and empathetic portrayals of the architecture and people of England. His Preston Bus Station photographs and short film were made as a member of the collective Preston is My Paris, exhibited as a site-specific work and recently published as book, Preston Bus Station (Dashwood, 2017). Hawkesworth’s thoughtful installations have manifested in several independent shows, most recently ‘A Short Pleasurable Journey Part Two’ (2019). Hawkesworth brings his finely-tuned capacities to both observe and choreograph authentic engagements with his subjects into highly original and innovative campaigns and editorials for Alexander McQueen and British Vogue, amongst others. His most recent book is On Keeping a Notebook: Photographs and Drawings (The Gould Collection, 2020).
About The British Isles – words by Jamie Hawkesworth:
The British Isles is an account of thirteen years of life across the United Kingdom, as seen through the lens of Jamie Hawkesworth. In this sprawling sequence of portraits and landscapes, Hawkesworth surveys the characters and terrains that make up the everyday fabric of his home country: schoolchildren and shopworkers, markets and estates, priests and professionals, cities and construction sites.
These photographs chart an alternative history of this eventful period of British history; a period punctuated by austerity, referenda, celebration, and conflict. And yet as much as a historical document this book is an exercise in curiosity, presenting a radically democratising portrait of the United Kingdom in which individuals, buildings and natural scenes are imbued with Hawkesworth’s generous and dignifying eye.
