James Bryans – Bio

James Bryans employs the documentary charge of black and white photography but turns it on its head, with images that capture his wry and poetic take on the world around him. His small-scale prints evoke a sense of pathos in their quiet, contained compositions, and while his series Figments might be a collection of nostalgic travel photographs, the title points to the imaginative realm that pervades his images.

Bryans has been exhibiting since the mid-nineties, presenting work in national and international institutions such as the National Portrait Gallery, UK, Centre for Contemporary Photography, VIC, and the Melbourne Immigration Museum. At Tweed River Regional Gallery he has been selected as a finalist for the Olive Cotton Award for Photographic Portraiture (2006) and the prestigious Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award (2003, 2002 Judges Commendation, 2000, 1999). In 2008, ArtWorld Magazine featured him in their Photography Supplement edition. His work is held in private collections within Australia and overseas.