Robin de Puy's distinctive take on the American photographic road trip

Date
23 August 2016

Dutch photographer Robin de Puy graduated from the Fotoacadmie in Rotterdam back in 2009. The same year she won various awards for her work, including the prestigious Photo Academy Award for her ability to capture a snippet of a person’s history in one image.

Subsequently, Robin became a very in demand photographer yet her growing success made brought about a restless anxiety. As a result she embarked on a solo trip across America on a Harley-Davidson, for 10,000 miles. Her adventure has manifested itself as If This Is True, a book binding together Robin’s travelling diary and the photographs that visualise it immensely. With just “a couple of laps, two cameras and a lighting umbrella”, Robin has created a distinctive take on the American photographic trip. We spoke to Robin about her journey around America and as a photographer.

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Robin de Puy:_ If This Is True_ (courtesy The Ravestijn Gallery)

What instigated this journey across America?

The constant flood of commissions left me almost no time for autonomous work and I feared losing my sense of creative freedom. This road trip gave me the chance to go back to deciding myself what to photograph.

Your first stop was in Pioche, Nevada, and you wrote that you deliberated staying there for the entirety of your journey. Do you think you’ll make it back?

I would love to go back and somehow I think I will go back, even if it is only for a couple of days. I still remember the smell of the bar. It is not that I really liked the smell of the bar, but it reminds me of the safety I felt there. The first time I stayed in Pioche I was extremely scared of everything that I had to do – I feared the trip, myself and all the people that I was going to meet, but I felt really safe in this little town. Everybody was taking care of me, they looked after me.

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Robin de Puy:_ If This Is True_ (courtesy The Ravestijn Gallery)

Within the portrait shots you also feature some landscape shots, is this something you would like to do more of?

The funny thing is that during my trip I really concentrated on the portraits. The landscape shots were mainly to remember the route that I rode. When I came back I start playing with the images and decided these landscape shots needed a place in the exhibition and book too. For the biggest part of my trip I was riding my bike surrounded by these beautiful landscapes, I would underestimate the route and landscapes by not showing them.

The diary you kept alongside the photographs is a natural read. What made you decide to add writing documentation alongside photographs?

It wasn’t my intention to focus on the diary, but somehow it became more and more important to me to describe what I felt, what I experienced, writing a weekly piece was like putting everything order. Every day I met new people, every day I rode a lot of miles in different landscapes, so it was a lot to process. Finding the right words was like organising my head.

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Robin de Puy:_ If This Is True_ (courtesy The Ravestijn Gallery)

Do you have any particular memories of places or characters that have really stuck in your memory?

The first portrait I shot during my trip was of Cecil, a loner in the middle of Nevada and an old man full of stories. It was a memorable moment making my first portrait during this trip. He is the only man I visited twice, once in the first week and once in the last.

There are quite a few people who really touched me. If I think about Yvonne, the big naked lady floating in her swimming pool, I smile. If I think about Graden, the man who kissed me in his pick-up truck under a streetlight, I certainly smile. If I think about William who thought he was alien I chuckle – not because I laugh at him, but because I admire his belief. A lot of people get stuck my memory.

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Robin de Puy:_ If This Is True_ (courtesy The Ravestijn Gallery)

Were there any particular books that you read or albums you listened to while on your journey?

I only had two saddle backs and a backpack which were all filled with camera equipment. I didn’t have any room left for books (or anything bigger then a pencil). But I did listen to music! Riding a bike and listening to music is a good combination. I sang with The Beatles, but also with Ane Brun. I also love JJ Cale – which felt quite suitable with riding on a bike, don’t you think?

What was life like when you returned?

First I tried to deny the fact that I was back in Amsterdam. I waited a long time to see my family, because I knew they would be happy to see me while, at the same time, I didn’t want to be there. I missed the freedom, I missed riding the long distances on my bike, I missed the USA, I missed everything. I can’t really describe the feeling that I had when I returned, I was happy because I did it, I rode these miles, I met these amazing people, I felt freedom.

On the other hand I didn’t know how to keep the feeling of freedom while I was ‘locked up’ in my own house in Amsterdam. I was extremely conscious of everything around me, I didn’t feel the urge to tell people what I had experienced, because words would not be enough to explain everything. I felt silence, like everything happened around me but I was not really part of it. It was a big transition, from no house in the USA to a small tiny house in Amsterdam.

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Robin de Puy:_ If This Is True_ (courtesy The Ravestijn Gallery)

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Robin de Puy:_ If This Is True_ (courtesy The Ravestijn Gallery)

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Robin de Puy:_ If This Is True_ (courtesy The Ravestijn Gallery)

Above

Robin de Puy:_ If This Is True_ (courtesy The Ravestijn Gallery)

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Robin de Puy:_ If This Is True_ (courtesy The Ravestijn Gallery)

Above

Robin de Puy:_ If This Is True_ (courtesy The Ravestijn Gallery)

Above

Robin de Puy:_ If This Is True_ (courtesy The Ravestijn Gallery)

Above

Robin de Puy:_ If This Is True_ (courtesy The Ravestijn Gallery)

Above

Robin de Puy:_ If This Is True_ (courtesy The Ravestijn Gallery)

Above

Robin de Puy:_ If This Is True_ (courtesy The Ravestijn Gallery)

Above

Robin de Puy:_ If This Is True_ (courtesy The Ravestijn Gallery)

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About the Author

Lucy Bourton

Lucy (she/her) is the senior editor at Insights, a research-driven department with It's Nice That. Get in contact with her for potential Insights collaborations or to discuss Insights' fortnightly column, POV. Lucy has been a part of the team at It's Nice That since 2016, first joining as a staff writer after graduating from Chelsea College of Art with a degree in Graphic Design Communication.

lb@itsnicethat.com

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