Book Review: The British Isles
Jamie Hawkesworth. Image from The British Isles (MACK, 2021). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
Written by Nick Rutolo
Beautiful landscapes. Hundreds of people expressing themselves in uniquely independent fashions. More than one hundred photographs to document it all.
Jamie Hawkesworth compiled The British Isles over the course of 13 years, capturing a stunning reflection of the titular islands. The collection portrays a parade of people with starkly contrasting styles. The levels of individualism parallel what you would see in huge and diverse cities, while offering the backdrop of a picturesque countryside that no cityscape could ever deliver. The styles constantly change through the book: No two people are exactly alike.
Jamie Hawkesworth. Image from The British Isles (MACK, 2021). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
Jamie Hawkesworth. Image from The British Isles (MACK, 2021). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
The landscapes, put in perspective, feel unreal — a borderline fantasy to someone living in the U.S. The vivid depiction of the world’s creation is incomprehensibly beautiful, as are the people included inside it. It’s clear that the message of the book is that the vast amount of beauty in this world goes unseen to most, that we only ever see a shade of the shadow that experience instills in each and every one of us.
Jamie Hawkesworth. Image from The British Isles (MACK, 2021). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
The use of color, shading and light expertly brings out the personalities of the people and places in this series. The camera lens transports us and elevates our status from an outside observer to a witness, the light intimate on even the most mundane postures. Despite the passage of more than a decade over the course of the collection’s creation, each image feels like it was stolen from the same point in time, amassing a timeless record of the British Isles.
Jamie Hawkesworth. Image from The British Isles (MACK, 2021). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
The diversity of the people who live on the British Isles and the walks of life that are represented in this collection are astounding. There are private school attendees in matching uniforms, kids in roller skates and knee guards, gothic girls in cemeteries. Most of the photographs show people’s faces, but the few that omit them evoke a somber sense of wonder. The underlying sonder helps us realize that while happiness lives in the lives of many, some of us forever feel the pain of loss. We see life in another’s eyes just as much as we feel that person’s truth in their expressions. The final photos feel importantly placed, a resolution to the story Hawkesworth is trying to tell: Amid the hardship, there is still joy, adventure, curiosity and natural beauty.
Jamie Hawkesworth. Image from The British Isles (MACK, 2021). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
Jamie Hawkesworth. Image from The British Isles (MACK, 2021). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
The British Isles shows the beauty of a country most Americans will never get to see. This book is an invitation for the whole world to see Hawkesworth’s home through his eyes. At a time when the UK — and indeed, the rest of world — is drowning in conflict, this piece shows us that our differences, although vast, are forever living in tandem, a perfect example of how those differences make the human race whole.
Jamie Hawkesworth. Image from The British Isles (MACK, 2021). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
Jamie Hawkesworth. Image from The British Isles (MACK, 2021). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
The British Isles (2021) by Jamie Hawkesworth, published by MACK, can be purchased on MACK’s website. Hawkesworth’s other artwork can be viewed on his personal website or Instagram at @jamie.hawkesworth.
