If This is True, I'll Never Have to Leave Home Again

by Robin de Puy (Photographer)

Robin de Puy is regarded as one of the most talented young Dutch photographers in the field of journalistic portraits. Commissions began to pour in after her winning the National Portrait Prize in 2014, yet she became uncertain. So she made a radical decision: to undertake a 10,000 km journey through the United States, by herself, on a Harley Davidson. The journey's purpose was to touch base, to return to what photography really means for her. The results appear in her first book, published along with an exhibition in the Photo Museum in The Hague.

246 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2016

About the author

Robin de Puy’s (1986, the Netherlands) photographs start with a desire to tell her own story through the faces of others. Whether it’s the freckled adolescent she noticed whilst refuelling in Wyoming, the Dutch author, poet and columnist Remco Campert, or the boy Randy she met in Nevada whilst on her American road trip, De Puy sees the camera as an aid to understand the deeply personal traits and histories of each person, and how they also reveal something about herself. Many of her encounters are fleeting; a heartfelt glance into the life of someone else before time resumes its frantic pace. In others, as with Randy, those same transient experiences blossom into profound and enduring relationships. Regardless of which ending they have, De Puy’s photographs are always imbued with a sensitivity and timelessness that encourages a slow gaze on the human condition. Her images are chances for genuine human connection, and through sharing with them with the world, allow us to take part in such moments.