Still, the tools may be simple, but the work isn\u2019t. Spotting an interesting face is one thing; gaining a person\u2019s trust is another. Anyone who has lost their nerve taking a photograph in public or asking someone where they bought their jeans can appreciate that initiating conversation with a stranger and asking to take their picture \u2013 potentially to cast them in a fashion shoot \u2013 isn\u2019t light work. \u201cIt\u2019s probably similar to the people trying to sell things to you, or those charity fundraisers,\u201d says Lawrence. \u201cPeople sometimes think I\u2019m one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawrence is, by her own admission, interview-averse and keen not to over-analyse an instinctive process. \u201cSome people love talking about their work and they\u2019re great at it,\u201d she says. \u201cTruthfully, I don\u2019t ever really want to have to explain it, no matter what I\u2019m making.\u201d With a new book out, Tell me something true, published by LOOKBOOKS, which collates ten years of capturing unusual, beguiling faces \u2013 alongside snippets of the shoots that came out of them \u2013 now is a rare opportunity to catch her.<\/p>\n
The predictable question, then, is how she does it \u2013 which she gets a lot. \u201cPeople are always curious about how I approach people and how it works,\u201d she says. Lawrence used to ask her subjects to respond to words on the spot, \u201cfreedom\u201d, \u201canxiety\u201d, \u201cmother\u201d, \u201cinternet\u201d, \u201cpain\u201d, \u201cpleasure\u201d, \u201cpolitics\u201d, \u201cdeath\u201d. It\u2019s a technique Jung used, designed to elicit a reaction and expose the subconscious.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything I do is based on instinct and feeling. We live in a world where we are taught not to listen to how we actually feel because we are so overstimulated by visuals, so we miss lots of signals.\u201d It becomes as much to do with your energy, then, as that of the person you\u2019re approaching. \u201cSo, if you seem sketchy or you\u2019re anxious or in a bad mood, you\u2019re probably going to have a bad day trying to find people or trying to talk to them. When I approach people I\u2019m always very genuine, honest and transparent about the project I\u2019m working on.\u201d<\/p>\n Her subjects rarely look uncomfortable having their picture taken. Two girls with long fake eyelashes and tinted red hair stand before a wall, one looks deadpan into the camera while the other laughs covering her mouth with a tattooed arm; another image sees a young girl, a flower in her hair and piercings on both sides of her nose, she smiles to expose her traintracked teeth; a man stands animatedly, seemingly explaining the infrastructure that surrounds him. \u201cI\u2019ve developed lots of little habits, like maintaining eye contact,\u201d she says, drawing on a broader interest in metaphysics and the signals people unconsciously give off.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s so important when you\u2019re talking to people \u2013 it\u2019s something I’ve trained myself to do just through repetition.\u201d You have to be quick, too, gauging what\u2019s happening around you almost instantly. \u201cIf I see someone amazing who\u2019s on the phone, I might follow them for a bit and wait until they finish the call. Or if someone is having a fight with their boyfriend, I\u2019ll wait until things settle before approaching them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>
![\"Tell](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/475631.JPG\")
Tell me something true by Gabrielle LawrenceCourtesy of LOOKBOOKS<\/p>\n
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Tell me something true by Gabrielle LawrenceCourtesy of LOOKBOOKS<\/p>\n