Randy & Robin | Road Trip

In July 2026, acclaimed Dutch photographer and filmmaker Robin de Puy will embark on a road trip from Nevada to New York for the latest chapter of her ongoing series, Randy.

De Puy first met the eponymous Randy in 2015, in his hometown of Ely, Nevada, towards the end of her 8,000-mile road trip on a Harley-Davidson. He cycled past on a child’s bicycle, and she stopped him to request a portrait. At the time, Randy was a young teenager – shy, open, and still navigating speech after spending the first eight years of his life selectively mute. That first encounter marked the beginning of an enduring friendship.

Since 2015, de Puy has returned almost every year to visit and photograph Randy, creating hundreds of portraits and films. What began as a chance encounter has since developed into an intimate, long-term exploration of youth within the vast rural landscape of the American West.

The work moves between stillness and spontaneity, tracing a life shaped by isolation, imagination, and the quiet intensity of its surroundings. Rather than a fixed portrait, the series unfolds as an ongoing, fluid narrative, complemented by de Puy’s journal entries – often written as odes to Randy.

At its core lies a sustained connection between artist and subject, built on trust, time, and mutual attentiveness. The pair are regularly in contact via video call, with de Puy describing herself as Randy’s “parent from afar.” As Randy has grown older, his role within the work has shifted: he is no longer only observed, but increasingly engaged in the act of image-making himself.

Now in his mid-twenties, Randy has begun making photographs of his own, using a simple camera to create self-portraits and document his immediate environment. This exchange introduces a new dimension to the series, where authorship and perspective begin to overlap.

Despite their long-standing bond, Randy’s world has remained geographically contained. He has rarely left Nevada and has never flown. Yet his curiosity extends beyond these limits. When de Puy asked where he would most like to go, his answer was immediate: New York City.

This forthcoming journey marks a significant turning point. Travelling together from Ely to New York City, de Puy and Randy will photograph one another along the way, shaping a shared visual account defined by movement and reciprocity. The trip will conclude with Randy’s first flight – an experience that signals both a literal and symbolic widening of his world.

The work that emerges from this journey will form the basis of a future exhibition and publication, alongside a film documenting the process. To raise funds for the trip, Robin and Randy will be sending handwritten postcards, keeping in touch via video call and releasing a special edition print to their supporters.