Interview with Eddie James, GradFoto Award 2023 Highly Commended Finalist

Ballarat Foto asked GradFoto Award 2023 highly commended finalist Eddie James a few questions about her project Sedimentary Equilibrium.

 

Ballarat Foto: In your project Sedimentary Equilibrium, you work across different modes including large format photography, Polaroid, installation and performance. Can you tell us more about the process that led you to this multi-modal approach and how it enables you to best address and represent the concerns of your project?

Eddie James: My practice has always been rooted in exploring the intersection of mediums—where photography, installation and performance each contribute their own language. For Sedimentary Equilibrium, the multi-modal approach was born out of a need to reflect the layered history of landscapes like quarries, where geological time and human intervention collide. Large format photography allows me to capture the fine details of the stone’s surface, invoking a sense of permanence and history, while the performance, where I tear through 39 suspended prints, disrupts this notion of stability. The images gradually reduce in size, a subtle reminder of the process of erosion, both literal and metaphorical. By combining still imagery with movement, sound, and materiality—like the stones from the quarry beneath my feet—the work creates an immersive environment that echoes the ongoing transformation of the land. This approach allows for a more tactile and sensorial engagement with the themes of destruction, time and human interaction with nature.

 

 

Ballarat Foto: Did you always conceive of the project’s outcome as an exhibition? What does an exhibition offer you that other modes of presentation, such as a photobook, might not?

Eddie James: The exhibition format was integral to Sedimentary Equilibrium from the outset. While a photobook allows for a contemplative and intimate experience, the physicality of the exhibition, especially with the performance and the interaction with the suspended prints, allows for a direct engagement with the materiality of the work. The movement of the audience in the space, brushing past the suspended prints, activates the work. As people navigate through the space, the prints sway, mirroring the unsettling movement of quarry stones or dust in the air—almost as if the images themselves are shifting, being disturbed by the presence of others. This interaction creates a physical dialogue between the viewer and the work, something that a more static medium like a photobook cannot offer.

In an exhibition, I can emphasise the sensory aspects—the sound of stones beneath feet, the physicality of tearing through the prints, and the subtle changes in light and air as people move. These elements of sound, touch, and movement deepen the engagement with the themes of destruction and transformation in ways a book could never replicate. While a photobook might offer a more intimate, solitary encounter with the images, it cannot provide the same visceral, embodied experience that comes from physically moving through and altering the space itself.

 

Eddie James, Sedimentary Equilibrium, 2023

 

Ballarat Foto: What influence has your training as a performer had on your visual arts practice?

Eddie James: My background in performance has deeply informed my approach to visual arts, particularly in the way I think about presence, embodiment and space. In Sedimentary Equilibrium, the performance aspect wasn’t an afterthought but a way of physically enacting the themes of destruction and transformation that the imagery evokes. The act of tearing through the prints becomes a visceral representation of the quarrying process—each rip echoes the violence of extraction, while also being a fleeting moment, something only fully experienced in real-time by those present. Performance brings an immediacy to the work, making the body a central tool in exploring concepts of erosion, rupture and invasion. It allows me to engage more dynamically with the space and audience, making the process of creation and destruction visible.

 

 

Ballarat Foto: Do you have any advice for this year’s graduating students? Is there anything you wish you’d known about sustaining a creative practice outside an educational institution before graduating? 

Eddie James: My advice to graduating students would be to embrace uncertainty and remain open to experimentation. One of the most challenging aspects of sustaining a creative practice outside an institution is the absence of built-in structure and feedback. I wish I had known earlier how essential it is to create a community of peers who can provide that critical dialogue and support. The freedom that comes after graduating can be both liberating and overwhelming, so it’s important to set your own boundaries and goals, but also allow space for failure and growth. In many ways, it’s the periods of uncertainty that have led to some of my most interesting work, including the development of Sedimentary Equilibrium. Stay curious and trust that your practice will evolve in unexpected ways if you allow it to.