Design and Art Australia Online

Biography

James investigates metaphoric uses of focal effects and the differences between human and camera vision. Findings from this research have been the subject of exhibitions and papers presented at international conferences. James also contributes to research in the history of Australian photography. He curated Phiction:Lies, Illusion and the Phantasm in Photography which toured eleven galleries across Victoria (December 2001 to October 2003) and contributed a chapter “Shifting Ground in some Australian Photography” In Mehigan T. (Ed.) Frameworks, Artworks, Place: The Space of Perception in the Modern World, Amsterdam ; New York : Rodopi, 2008. His most recent contribution to this field is “Placing Space/Time through Photography’s Old and New Technologies”. In Hoofd I., Tan. M., Ho Kit Ying, K.. (Eds.) Proceedings of ISEA2008, The 14th International Symposium on Electronic Art 25 July – 3 August 2008, Singapore : ISEA2008 Pty. Ltd. ISBN: 978-981-08-0768-9337.
Australian photography, 1950s and 1960s Melbourne art scene, art in Bendigo, Walkabout magazine.
Exhibiting artist since 1978, lecturer in Visual Arts in tertiary institutions since 1982. Regular presenter of conference papers since 1989: 2008
26-28 November 2008, “Lost in the Bush” presented at International Australian Studies Association Conference
2008, “New Voices, New Visions: Challenging Australian identities and legacies” Queensland University of
Technology, Brisbane.
2008
1-3 October 2008, joint paper “Researching a new Photojournalism paradigm in connecting industry
professionals with regional students” presented at ACUADS 2008 Conference “Sites of activity / On the edge”.
South Australian School of Art (University of South Australia) Adelaide, South Australia
2008
25 July – 3 August. ‘25 July – 3 August 2008. “Placing Space/Time through Photography’s Old and New
Technologies”. ISEA2008, The 14th International Symposium on Electronic Art, Singapore.
2006
June 2 – 4 “The Paradox of Figure and Ground in Photographic Space”, at ‘Double Dialogues: On SPACE’
conference, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
2005
Nov 30 – Dec 2 “Phiction: Lies, Illusion and the Phantasm in Australian Photography”, at AAANZ Annual
Conference 2005 ‘Eye-site: Situating Theory and Practice in the Visual Arts’, University of Sydney.
2005
May 27 - 30, “Why Do We Have Two Eyes?”, at Celebrating the Diversity of Photographic Imaging Conference
2005, RMIT University Melbourne.
2005
February 10 - 14, “Figure and Ground in Australian Photography”, at The Poetics Of Australian Space Conference,
University of Sydney's School of English, Art History, Film and Media, in collaboration with the Art Gallery of New
South Wales.
2003
October 1 – 4, Artist’s Floor Talk, ANNUAL ACUADS CONFERENCE Hobart 2003 Survey of Current art and
design research and practice within Australian tertiary art and design schools.
2003
October 1 – 4, “Picture Words: toward an art-critical methodology”, ANNUAL ACUADS CONFERENCE
Hobart 2003 Survey of Current art and design research and practice within Australian tertiary art and design
schools.
2003
2-3 May, “Phiction, Text and Image”, Photo Imaging Education Association Conference,, Exhibition Centre,
Melbourne
2002
October 16-18, "Phiction: An Evaluation" Image and Imagery Conference, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario,
Canada.
2001
February 9-12 "Following Focus: a comparison of historical and practical uses of photographic focus and focal
concentration for expressive and symbolic purpose" Celebrating the Diversity of Photographic Imaging
International Conference 2001 , Hobart, Tasmania
2000
February “The Vortex” Palimpsest: Art and Science Symposium 2000, Mildura,
1999
14 - 17 July “After Life” at Conference: Encounters With Photography: Photographing People In Southern Africa,
1860 to 1999 Cape Town Museum and South African National Art Gallery
1998
“Human Stories: The Narrative and Sequence as Photographic Portrait". Australian Teachers of Media Conference
La Trobe University
“The Paradox of the Photographic Portrait” Art and Religion Conference at University of Sydney