Country Strong, A Stylist meets Littleton

Photography: Marcus Hay

Photography: Marcus Hay

Photography: Marcus Hay

Photography: Marcus Hay

Photography: Marcus Hay

Photography: Marcus Hay

Photography: Marcus Hay

Photography: Marcus Hay

Photography: Marcus Hay

Photography: Marcus Hay

Photography: Marcus Hay

It’s funny how work will just deposit you in a place that otherwise you may never have visited in a lifetime. Littleton, New Hampshire feels like one of those places.

Littleton is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, USA, The population was 5,928 at the 2010 census. It is a town I have visited a few times in the last year as one of my client’s “Garnet Hill’s” headquarters and studio are nearby. I have to say being largely a “city boy”, the area feels remote. You could probably walk one end of the town to the other in about 20 minutes. I like to stay close to town because beyond it feels even more like a wilderness and you don’t know what’s out in them woods! : ) It’s very quiet and sleepy and to be honest coming from Manhattan, New York City, It could not be anymore different!

I like to try and find inspiration in every place I visit and I have to say even though the pace is slower there is plenty here. I do feel a bit of a stereotype wandering around with my I Phone and Hipstamatic application in hand snapping old weathered exteriors and abandoned trucks, dodging weird stares from locals and dogs barking if you get too close but I was determined this time to capture a part of it as I see it through my eyes.

The great things about old towns is there is old things, some would turn up their nose but things can also be in disrepair and yet I find beauty in that, You see surfaces and textures on walls that us city folks will pay $350 to rent for a photo shoot surface that is 4x4 feet and here you see it everywhere! As a Stylist from somewhere else who caters to many Americans whose everyday life this is, visiting towns like this does give you the insight you need to know how to approach certain shoots, how things work stylistically to everyday folks. I really respond to the rawness and the untouched qualities of the riverside especially some of the buildings whose purpose looks largely industrial, I like the muted colors of the buildings, the aged woods and rusty elements dotted with real life size Tonka trucks from my childhood.    

I like to eat at the Littleton Diner that has been there since 1930, It’s one of the only original train car diners left in the world apparently, It’s like Manhattan’s "Empire Diner" in Chelsea's country sister. It is “Deco meets the Country” with original bar stools, light fittings and wooden booths.

In the last 7 months, I have spent nearly 3 months here so even though I often bring inspirations from the city, here is a taste of something different and quite refreshing me thinks!