I remember excitedly explaining to my mum my plan to drive around Texas for three weeks with my camera, another girl and twelve suitcases of clothes. She was worried that we’d get lost, kidnapped or murdered. I tried to convince her that we’d be fine; that I’d heard Texans are very friendly and anyway, Dad knew an old lady we could visit in a town called Brownwood.
I wasn’t sure of anything, except that this experience would be an adventure and that really, getting lost was the point. I prayed that we’d get the pictures of the characters and places I envisaged, and that all the clothes would fit.
The moment I stepped off the plane in Dallas, I had the unreal feeling of being on a movie set. My first thought was of cowboys, truck drivers and trailer-park beauties. That very night I met Cletus, the bellman at a hotel we’d found. He was an ageless, beautiful man who seemed kind. I decided then and there that he should be the first person I photographed. We later hugged as we said goodbye, and I can still hear the twang in his parting words: ‘Y’all make me feel like a Sunday.’
I love making friends with strangers. Photographing a stranger can be a bonding experience. In this way I form lifelong memories and friendships, and it gives me a thrill to travel and to cast as I go. Many flights, ideas and random moments have led me to scenes that dreams are made of. While most of my photographs are within the realm of fashion and art, I also see them as a personal record of chance encounters with people from other worlds and ways of life. Sometimes I make a friend, and a photograph follows; other times I take a photograph and make a friend.
Character is paramount in my work, and I’m attracted to people from all walks of life. I want to capture an element of truth in my subjects and their personal environments. This is the approach that works best for my pictures, amid the challenges and logistics of shooting on the road; it doesn’t make sense to do it any other way. Luck always plays a part, so while I prepare as much as possible in advance, I keep myself open to every possibility.
I like to travel to far-flung places that I’ve never been to. Like most people, I find that my consciousness is heightened and I come alive in a way that I never could in the familiar environment of home. I want people with different views from diverse backgrounds to trust me so that I can capture and convey something of their reality and aspirations. It doesn’t always go as smoothly as I would like, but that only makes it more exciting when a connection is made with someone and a kind of mutual trust quickly builds up. Whenever I drive away from a subject or fly home from a new place, I feel like my life has been enriched and I look forward to my next adventure.
Alice Hawkins
This text is Excerpted from Alice’s Adventures, by Alice Hawkins. Reproduced by permission of Thames & Hudson Inc.
Alice’s Adventures
Published by Thames and Hudson
$29.95
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