If successful, I will use the £10,000 bursary to develop a new body of photographic and film work exploring Darlington and the historic Stockton to Darlington railway route. My practice is rooted in travel, adventure, and meeting people from all walks of life – making portraits and films that find the extraordinary in the everyday. I’ve previously created personal work across the North of England, including Blackpool, Liverpool and Hartlepool. This bursary offers a timely opportunity to continue that journey in a place of huge historical resonance and personal inspiration.
Darlington’s role in the birth of the modern passenger railway transformed how the world travelled, traded, and connected. I’m inspired by the idea of retracing this route, creating portraits and films that reflect both the heritage of the railway and the contemporary lives and characters that surround it. I will cast people young and old, capturing their stories and presence in relation to the land, weather, and changing seasons. Over the course of two years, I plan to make repeat visits to Darlington and its neighbouring communities to build a layered and meaningful portrait of the area.
The bursary will fund essential travel, equipment, production, and the creation of around 30 portraits and accompanying short films. It will also enable me to realise a final exhibition in Darlington that is accessible and publicly visible. One idea is to transform empty shop fronts in the town centre into a large-scale, illuminated portrait displays, filling the windows floor to ceiling. Another idea is to print the work onto transparent sheets displayed in train carriage windows — allowing the work to travel the very route that inspired it.
This award would give me the time, resources, and community connection to deepen my practice and deliver a unique, place-based project that celebrates Northern identity through contemporary storytelling.
My project will contribute to raising the profile of the creative arts in Darlington by celebrating the town’s rich heritage and present-day character through a personal and visually striking body of work. In creating a series of photographic portraits and short films along the Stockton to Darlington railway route, I aim to produce work that resonates with local communities while also attracting wider attention to the area’s cultural identity.
I want this work to be seen by people who might not typically engage with traditional exhibitions — just as my subjects; young and old, familiar and overlooked, will be local people who may not have been publicly celebrated before. For this reason, I’m particularly excited about displaying the portraits in public spaces — for example, by transforming empty shop units in Darlington town centre into illuminated window galleries, or by exhibiting work on train windows along the historic route, or maybe on billboards at the train station’s. These creative displays would offer high visibility and allow local people to see themselves and their town reflected in the work in an engaging way.
By rooting this project in place, people, and story, I hope to create something that feels authentic to Darlington, sparks local pride, and positions the town as a site of contemporary artistic production.
I’m a photographer and filmmaker whose work sits somewhere between fine art and fashion. I graduated from Camberwell College of Art in 2002, and ever since I’ve been making portraits that explore character, identity, and place — often through travel, road trips, and meeting people from all walks of life. I’m driven by curiosity, storytelling, and a deep love for the unexpected. My idol is Dolly Parton.
I’ve worked professionally in the fashion world for many years, but my work is self-initiated and led by my own ideas of beauty, glamour, and who deserves to be seen. I’m especially drawn to people who may not usually appear in magazines or fashion images — whether because of age, background, geography, or social status. The photographer Nick Knight once described my work as capturing “the everyday burlesque” — something theatrical or defiant within everyday life — and I’ve always loved that idea.
My portraits are made on location, in collaboration with my subjects. I see photography as a shared moment rather than something staged or one-sided. Recent exhibitions that reflect the direction of my practice include: All the World’s a Stage (Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool, 2009), The Female Gaze (Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland, 2009), North: Identity, Photography and Fashion (Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, 2017; Somerset House, London, 2018; The Civic, Barnsley, 2019) and The Female Gaze Revisited (Hartlepool Art Gallery, 2022). These were all rooted in work made in the North of England, and very relevant to my ongoing desire to continue photographing in the region.
In 2023, I exhibited Dear Dolly, a self-initiated portrait project, at Have a Butchers Gallery in London, and Imagined Realities at Galerie Kitsuné, New York.
Throughout all my work — whether personal or commissioned — I’m trying to make images that feel alive, generous, and full of humanity.
I have a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design from Camberwell College of Arts (UAL), completed in 2001. The course gave me a solid foundation in visual storytelling, image-making, and communication — all central to my work as a photographer and filmmaker.
My degree was rooted in visual communication, and I focused early on exploring my own identity and the people around me. At my degree show, i-D magazine spotted my work and called the next day to commission me. My tutor at Camberwell, Frith Kerr — now a leading graphic designer and founder of Studio Frith — went on to design my first monograph, Alice’s Adventures, published by Thames & Hudson.
Although I haven’t undertaken postgraduate study, I regularly lecture on BA (Hons) Photography courses, as well as at postgraduate and PhD level — including at London College of Fashion and other institutions.
Although I haven’t previously received formal professional grants or awards, I’ve been fortunate to gain early and significant recognition for my work.
In 2003, I entered the American Express & The Independent’s Fashion Photography Prize, judged by Alexander McQueen and Nick Knight. My submission featured fashion logos shaved into the pubic hair of my friends. Apparently, the judges debated it until 3am, but in the end, they couldn’t put pubes in The Independent, so I didn’t win. Still, Nick Knight publicly said I had “the audacity fashion needs,” and began commissioning me to make film projects for SHOWstudio his pioneering platform for fashion film.
In 2016, I was invited to judge the Nikon Photography Prize in Shanghai.
In 2017, I was one of the nominated photographers for the Foam Paul Huf Award, an international prize recognising exceptional talent under 35 in contemporary photography.
My most recent published book, Dear Dolly, is a fully self-initiated project that reflects long-term creative commitment, innovation, and public engagement. The idea was sparked after witnessing Dolly Parton’s transformative live performance — an experience that led me to explore themes of popular culture, identity, and female resilience through a creative and critical lens.
I independently conceived and developed the project from concept to publication, overseeing all aspects of its artistic direction, research, writing, and production. Beyond being a personal creative endeavour, Dear Dolly engages wider audiences by reflecting on the shared cultural impact of an iconic figure, inviting dialogue around fandom, storytelling, and artistic legacy.
I am currently in the midst of publishing a book centred on my love for, and experiences in, the Mojave Desert. This approach to self-directed, deeply personal projects continues with my proposal to make new work in Darlington. Through these artist-led initiatives, I build meaningful connections between personal experience, cultural narrative, and public engagement — driving my ongoing artistic development.
Yes, I’ve previously been commissioned by public institutions, where my practice intersects with community, place, and identity. In 2009, I was commissioned by the Grundy Art Gallery in Blackpool to create new photographic work for my exhibition All the World’s a Stage. This involved working on location in Blackpool and engaging with themes of performance, glamour, and identity — all of which continue to inform my wider practice.
I was also commissioned for The Female Gaze at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art (NGCA), Sunderland, and again in 2022 for The Female Gaze Revisited at Hartlepool Art Gallery. Both exhibitions explored the power of the female gaze, questioning sex, gender, and good taste. For the Hartlepool exhibition, I created new work in collaboration with students at the Northern School of art and locals. As in Blackpool, it was a rewarding experience to work directly with and celebrate the people of the area.
These experiences have shaped my approach to making work that is both personal and publicly resonant — whether shown in a gallery, published in print, or encountered in public space. They’ve deepened my interest in producing work in and about the North of England and strengthened my commitment to making contemporary art accessible and inclusive.
Yes, Hartlepool Museums Service officially acquired the images I made for my exhibition there into their collection. This work is also available public viewing on Art UK.
Also, Melbourne Arts Centre acquired my work for their collection, a portrait I made of the late great Dame Edna.
Yes, my work has been widely featured and reviewed in a range of publications across both art and fashion contexts, reflecting the crossover nature of my practice.
My photography and projects have been published in i-D, LOVE, Garage, POP, Britsh/American/Russian Vogue, L’Uomo Vogue, Independent, Financial Times, Arena Homme+ and Harpers Bazaar US. I’ve developed long-standing relationships with editors who have given me the space to create self-directed visual stories that blur the lines between editorial, documentary, and fine art.
My book Dear Dolly was featured in The Guardian, It’s Nice That, CNN, HypeArt, HypeBeast, Huck, Perfect, Dazed, D La Repubblica, Zeit Magazin, AnOther, Tokion and PetaPixel.
My work has also been included in other photography books, such as ”Pools” curated by Lou Stoppard, published by Rizzoli 2020, and ”Don’t Stop Now: Fashion Photography Next” curated by Magdalena Keaney, published by Thames & Hudson and exhibited at Foam Museum, Amsterdam 2014.
I haven’t taken part in a formal artist residency or placement scheme. However, much of my work is rooted in self-initiated, immersive projects that involve extended time spent in particular places, often working directly with local communities.
For example, I’ve made photographic and film work in Blackpool, Liverpool, Hartlepool and the Mojave Desert — often over long periods and across multiple visits. These experiences have shaped my artistic practice in ways comparable to residency structures, allowing for reflection, relationship-building, and place-based storytelling.
I would love the opportunity to engage in a formal residency in future, particularly where it supports embedded artistic research, collaboration, and community connection.
Email: info@alicehawkins.com
Address: High Pines, 14 New Road, Mistley, ESSEX, CO112AG, GB
Local Authority: Tendring district council
