British documentary and fashion photographer Jamie Hawkesworth graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in 2009 with a BA in Photography. He was first introduced to photography while studying forensic science, taking pictures of reconstructed crime scenes. After less than a year, he changed his university pathway to pursue a photography degree. His images consistently explore the relationships between people and their surroundings and in doing so, comment on contemporary social issues.

Hawkesworth is a member of the collective Preston is my Paris, which was founded in July 2009 by photographers Adam Murray and Robert Parkinson as a photocopied zine with the intention of encouraging the exploration of the city of Preston as a subject for creative practice. It became a multi-faceted project rooted in photography that includes publications, site-specific installations, live events, digital applications, education and writing. Hawkesworth and his former university lecturer Murray spent a weekend in 2010 taking portraits of young people who caught their eye at Preston bus station. Hawkesworth explained: “It was a centre for Megabus so if a bus comes from up North, it goes through Preston to go South, so there was always an influx of really interesting people coming through the station. When I found someone, I’d ask to take their portrait.”

Preston bus station was built by Ove Arup and Partners in the Brutalist style between 1968 and 1969, to a design by Keith Ingham and Charles Wilson of Building Design Partnership with E. H. Stazicker. Through the efforts of the collective Preston is my Paris and other local campaigners, the building was saved from demolition and granted Grade II listed building status in September 2013. It was redeveloped in association with a new youth centre, with construction beginning in 2016 and the station officially re-opened in 2018.