Meet Jim A. Barker – photographer, enthused gardener, Glen Innes dweller
Artisans of the New England is a long-term photographic project by recent New England local, Jim A. Barker. Initiated in 2022, Barker has documented creatives in the region including painters, sculptors, ceramicists, as well as those who make things with their hands such as clockmakers, furniture restorers, seamstresses and writers. The resulting images are a snapshot in time of the array of emerging and established artists who call the New England home. Be there opening night this Friday 12 April at Armidale’s own New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM). Or check it out at your leisure while it graces NERAM’s walls until 26 May.
When did you first pick up a camera?
I was probably around eight years old. I remember being the kid with a disposable 35mm (before it was cool) and picking up photos from the pharmacy. That progressed through to digital point ‘n’ shoots in my early 20s, when phones had cameras but really shouldn't have. Then I gave it away for almost 10 years before splurging on a 600D as a way of dealing with burnout.
City or country? Why?
Don’t do this to me. Don’t ask me this question. It's different strokes for different folks tbh, but I cut my teeth shooting street and architecture stuff in Sydney and it's still a huge passion for me. But now, I'm applying the same principles to shooting in the country and finding it super satisfying.
How was the idea for 'Artisans of the New England' born?
My wife Jamie-Lee and I found this old photographic collection, documenting Glen Innes from 1857-2007, a 150-year retrospective of the area as it developed through periods of being settled, mined and farmed. We’d just moved here from the city and found ourselves as a pair of emerging artists in a land of seemingly endless creatives, where before we’d relocated we thought it was just grazing country. It felt borderline tragic there wasn’t much awareness of the talent here, so I decided to embark on photographing as many of the New England’s artists and artisans as I could. To right the situation and document a tiny slice of the artists right here, right now, just like the photos we’d seen in that old photographic collection. The power of the photograph, man. It’s beautiful.
You've captured 76 local artists in their studio environments – that's mega. Name your biggest highlight and your greatest challenge.
Ooh biggest highlight’s got to be actually finishing the project! It sometimes felt like I wasn't going to get here, like when I took four months off over winter. Greatest challenge was actually whittling down all of the project’s 1800+ photos into the 276 we’re printing for the show. We can barely fit it all onto the walls so I had to leave a lot on the cutting room floor. (jokes, they’re files on a computer)
The exhibition’s opening night is this Friday 12 April at NERAM, from 6-8pm – how do you hope people feel when they lay eyes on your photography?
I hope everyone feels like creativity exists in the world, and that it’s available to everyone regardless of how or where they live. Creativity exists, and more than that – it’s imperative to our existence! All us upright apes enjoy the fruits of creativity, and the act of creativity lies within us all. There’s a quote from Vonnegut that struck me deeply and I had to put it into the book: "Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives."
Anything you'd like to add?
Support your local artists! And find a creative act that you enjoy, then do it as often as you can.
