James Farley is an Australian artist and teacher based in North Carolina. Combining photography with ecological thinking, James collaborates with people and places to create images about coexistence.
James is passionate about education and creative communities. He has been involved in the development and operation of multiple artist-run initiatives and has both established and participated in professional development, mentorships, and community-building programs across Australia.
James has received several awards, prizes and grants including; project funding from the NSW Office of Regional Youth to facilitate a 12-month education program in photography for young people (2022-23), CreateNSW funds for a collaborative professional development program between Riverina and Western Sydney-based artists (2020), CreateNSW funding to undertake a 12-month curatorial mentorship at AGNSW (2019), Artist Support Funding towards research and development of a collaborative publication on extractive industries in regional NSW (2018), and a Young Regional Artist Scholarship (2015) from Create NSW. James has been a finalist in the Contemporary Landscape in Photography Prize (2018, 2023), the Bowness Photography Prize (2019), the Australian Photobook of the Year Prize (2019, 2015) The National Photography Prize (2018), and the Sony World Photography Prize (2015). In 2016, James was named the NSW/ACT Young Achiever of the Year.
In 2021-2023, James co-founded and directed F.Stop Workshop, an independent arts/education initiative in the Riverina offering photographic education for all ages and abilities.
