PEOPLE

Jamie Hawkesworth’s Backstory

The rising photographer has taken a rarely traveled road to success.


Jamie Hawkesworth

Unlike most emerging fashion photographers, who hone their craft assisting established lensmen, Jamie Hawkesworth, 26, got his start shooting crime scenes. Mock ones, mind you, at the University of Central Lancashire, where the young Brit studied forensic science until he realized that his passion lay in documentary photography. Before long, his color-saturated portraits of teens across England and the intriguingly banal environments in which they reside caught the attention of stylists like Joe McKenna and Marie Chaix—and W Senior Fashion Editor Marie-Amélie Sauvé, who for her story in this issue was inspired by his image of a sports car. “She loved the simplicity of it,” explains Hawkesworth, who is currently doing a series on elite English high schools and another on whales. “It’s important for me to keep the documentary side of my work going, so it can inform the fashion side.”

Photos: Jamie Hawkesworth’s Backstory

Courtesy of Jamie Hawkesworth.

Courtesy of Jamie Hawkesworth.

Courtesy of Jamie Hawkesworth.

Courtesy of Jamie Hawkesworth.

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