Julia Hawkins is a portrait and documentary photographer based in south London. She works regularly with the Peckham Peculiar newspaper and its sister papers, and also with a range of charities and other purpose-led organisations to help them tell their story. Her career in photography began in 2020 after completing a professional photography course at the London Institute of Photography. Prior to this she spent more than 20 years working in the non-profit sector. She was one of the winners of the Portrait of Britain Award in 2024. juliahawkins.com
On Loneliness - a portrait photo project by Julia Hawkins
Loneliness can affect anyone, at any time, from any walk of life. More than a quarter of us in the UK feel lonely some of the time. So why do so many of us find it so difficult to talk about it? We often feel ashamed, like there’s something wrong with us and we’ve somehow failed at life.
In early 2023 I was commissioned by the School of Life to make a portrait photography book about loneliness. For the rest of that year I travelled up and down the country and talked to more than 50 people about their experiences of loneliness, photographing them in locations where they felt most at ease - often in their homes or in local parks.
Some had periods of loneliness because of health conditions or disabilities that make it difficult for them to get out and about. Others had suffered the loneliness of bereavement. Some struggled with loneliness within their intimate relationships, or because of their sexuality, or because they somehow just felt ‘different’.
Through talking to people of all ages and from all walks of life, with so many and varied reasons for loneliness, I’ve become convinced of two things.
The first is that not only is loneliness nothing to feel ashamed of - it’s one of the things that defines us as human. Most of us will feel it at some point in our lives, particularly if we’re going through a period of transition.
The second is how important it is to listen. Time and again I’ve been so touched by people’s willingness to open up to me, a stranger, about some of their darkest moments. Some of them told me things they said they’d never told anyone before, then said they felt a weight had lifted. And all I’d done was let them speak without interruption.
It’s made me realise that loneliness isn’t just about a lack of having people around. It’s often simply about not feeling heard. When someone has the chance to tell their story, without judgement, without advice, without belittling things or, god forbid, telling them to ‘be positive’, it can mean the world. And not just to the person telling their story - the experience of being a witness is also such a gift.
A quote attributed to the author Vera Nazarian sums this up beautifully:
“To be alone with yourself is to be alone. To be in the company of others is to be alone together. The only time you are not alone is when you forget yourself and reach out in love - the lines of self blur, and just for a wild, flickering moment, you experience the miracle of other.”
So although my work on the book is complete, I’m continuing with this body of work. I want to keep trying to help take the stigma away from talking about loneliness. But also, I want to keep experiencing that miracle.
If you think you might like to share your story with me, please drop me a line at julia@juliahawkins.com
On Loneliness is published by The School of Life on 6 November 2025. You can buy it here
juliahawkins.com/on-loneliness
Julia Hawkins photography
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