HA IE

WA SON
PHOTOGRAPHY AND DESIGN BY
MARK VELASQUEZ
@MARKVELASQUEZ
MARKVELASQUEZ.COM

SPECIAL THANKS:
LOLA AGNOSIA
AARON COTA
MICHELLE COTA

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Copyright © 2010-2014 By Mark Velasquez

HATTIE
WATSON
From my small yet loyal fan base I have been repeatedly asked the same,
simple question: What is Hattie Watson really like? I always find that funny.
You have to realize I’ve only met the lady twice now, so I would never ad-
mit to knowing what makes her tick or what defines her. But okay, bear
with me while I offer a few heavily biased observations.

Like a lot of people, I have seen and admired Hattie’s images over the last
several years and am always impressed with her beauty, calm, ease, and
grace. In person she seems a bit shy, a studier of people and things rather
than a dynamic force to be reckoned with. Still, her strength, presence,
humor, and awareness of the way things work is obvious and palpable.
Her bullshit detector seems healthy and well-developed, honed over what
I can only assume is a lifetime of dealing with people who are trying des-
perately to figure her out, which is probably not something she feels she
needs.

Sure, Hattie is beautiful. That’s a fact that cannot be denied. And yes, she
is a great model. But take it from someone who has over ten years of
photography experience here, being beautiful alone is not what makes
someone a great model. It takes that “unnameable thing” I discuss often
with other photographers, that ability to convey in a simple glance more
than a great short story ever could. And boy, she has it. I’m not saying be-
ing a great model is a quality that all women should seek to achieve, nor
am I downplaying how hard and complicated that life can be, either. Being
a professional model is not easy, but even she would agree: Who cares?

I guess in the end my final answer to those who asked the original ques-
tions is this: She is a real person. She’s not a sculpture to be put on a
pedestal, but she is also undeniably special, not someone who should
be lumped into any dismissible group. What makes her great is not her
cheekbones or dress size; it is her sincerity, her ability to not take this
whole, odd business so seriously, and what seems to be her desire to try
to make sense of this world as well as anyone can. If you want to admire
any quality, admire that. I know I do.

-Mark Velasquez
“THE BEAUTY
YOU SEE
IN ME IS A
REFLECTION
OF YOU.”
-Rumi
“I’VE LEARNED TO VALUE FAILED
CONVERSATIONS, MISSED
CONNECTIONS, CONFUSIONS.
WHAT REMAINS IS WHAT’S
UNSAID, WHAT’S UNDERNEATH.
UNDERSTANDING ON ANOTHER
LEVEL OF BEING.”
Anna Kamienska, from A Nest Of Quiet
“Sometimes, you can
only feel something
by it’s absence. By the
empty space it leaves
behind.” -Gayle Forman
“I NEVER CHANGE, I SIMPLY...
...BECOME MORE MYSELF.”
-Joyce Carol Oates
“You know you are on
the right track when you
become uninterested in
looking back.” -Unknown

To learn more about Hattie Watson please visit: Hattiewatson.tumblr.com