James

We had such a great day meeting people and making sun prints at In Bloom Festival in Leland 🌷 Thank you to everyone who visited our table and thank you to @lelandparksandrec for the invitation! We can’t wait to bring more photography workshops and eco-art activities to Leland! Shout out to our new friends at @scrapexchange who do such cool work. They had barrel loads of old slides and film canisters for us to play with. We even made some cyanotypes of old slides (with varying degrees of success) ✨

A big thank you to @avrankin for organizing this project!! Photography: James T. Farley

The next instalment of DREAMers Dispatch drops tomorrow 🚨 Only a limited number available. Get your copy this Friday at the DREAMs Spring Showcase. I’ve had a blast working with these talented young artists these past four months. The theme for Spring was COLORFUL CHAOS, and that is what we had. The experimental photography and bookmaking class explored natural and artificial lighting, long exposure, motion studies, color, portraiture, place, and digital darkroom techniques (can you tell?). The students each created a photography zine and contributed work to the collaborative dispatch. I know I’m biased, but It’s really good 💫 @dreams_of_wilmington #wilmingtonnc #photobook #ncartist #ncphotographer #dreamsofwilmington

It’s been a while since I’ve shared my own wandering on here, but I’m slowly coming to know my new neighbourhood. This is from one walk in early Spring, from Central to Sunset, parallel to the Port of Wilmington. #wilmingtonnc #azalea #portcity #sunsetpark

It’s hard to beat looking at photobooks at the start your day ☀️📚 My Intro to Digital Photography class did an amazing job making and sharing their first ever photobooks. I am blown away by the quality of work they are producing this semester 👏🦅 @uncw_art_and_art_history @uncwilmington @uncwchssa #photobook #wilmingtonnc #uncw

These beautiful shots captured by one of our AMAZING teaching artists @jamestfarley during photography class capture the magic that is DREAMS. The subjects, natural lighting, and composition are awe inspiring 🤩 We can't wait to see what other beautiful images this team records with their cameras 📸💙 #wilmingtonnc #photography #art #nonprofitorganization

Art and nature have a way of bringing people together. Thanks to a partnership made possible by Corning, Wilmington 6th graders experienced this firsthand. Students from D.C. Virgo Preparatory Academy and Friends School of Wilmington first connected as pen pals, then met in person for a full day of hands-on learning. At Halyburton Park, they explored the life cycle of the longleaf pine with naturalists Andy Fairbanks and Karen Linehan, then gathered materials along the trail to create cyanotypes — a historic, cameraless photographic process — guided by artist James Farley. The afternoon brought everyone to Cameron Art Museum to tour the ‘From Mountains to Sea’ exhibition, connecting the art on view with all they had learned about the natural world. This is what community-centered education looks like, and we’re so grateful to everyone who made it possible. Thank you to Halyburton Park, D.C. Virgo Preparatory Academy, Friends School of Wilmington, and Corning for your partnership and support. Photography by James Farley (@jamestfarley ) and Maggie Beck (@mags_.photography )

This part of my job never gets old! For the first few weeks of every semester, I get to watch people experience the magic behind photography for the first time ❄️✨☀️📸 Weeks 1-3, History of Photography, Spring 2026, UNCW Photos by @jamestfarley @uncwilmington #wilmingtonnc #cameraobscura #cyanotype #historyofphotography #uncw

Exciting news! DREAMers Dispatch launches tomorrow afternoon at the @dreams_of_wilmington Fall Showcase ✨ Katie, Trent, and Jeshauna have been hard at work with their cameras and in the darkroom with instructor, @jamestfarley 📷 Over the past twelves weeks, we covered photograms, pinhole photography and 35mm film, and they came up with the idea of publishing their work as a book. $15 per copy, with all proceeds going straight to the three young artists. We hope this will be the first of many DREAMers Dispatches 📸

Tickets are now open for our November event speaker, James Farley! ‼️ Nov CM event: This Friday, Nov 14, Doors 8:30 AM 🎟️ Tickets: Reserve your free ticket at link in bio ⬆️ 🖼️ Where: Acme Art Studios (711 N 5th Ave) @acmeartstudios 🖊️ Get to know James Farley! James Farley @jamestfarley is an Australian artist and educator based in Wilmington. You may know him from his tintype photography studio, Studio Australis @studio_australis . For those new to tintype, it’s a magical, chemical photographic process dating back to the Civil War era, producing timeless images with character and depth, unlike anything modern photography can produce. James’ work investigates the entanglements of people, place, and environment – and how reciprocal relationships give rise to identity and belonging. Working with photography as both material and method, he creates images, books, and installations that invite reflection on coexistence and the shared ecologies we inhabit. As an educator (UNCW) and community-builder, James sees learning and community as part of a creative ecosystem – one that thrives on curiosity, connection, and exchange. With over a decade of experience in universities, galleries, and community settings, James has co-founded multiple artist-run initiatives and continues to cultivate spaces where learning, experimentation, and community can flourish.

The Material Image: Celebrating Analog and Experimental. Curated by me and on show at @acmeartstudios ✨ Thanks to everyone who came to the opening during October Fourth Friday, and to all the participating artists. @rebeccachapp_ @madcreecher @alison_harsh @_avahicks_ @kyleisliving #CourtneyJohnson @shrk_bait @chelsealeametals @jcmace @lindyschoenborn @andrewsherman @drivenbyboredom @onefinefotogram #wilmingtonnc #ncartist #northcarolina

The Material Image - Celebrating Analog and Experimental Photography 📸 Opening: Fourth Friday, 6-9 pm, October 24, 2025 📍Location: ACME Art Studios, 711 N 5th Ave, Wilmington, NC, 28401 ✨ Free Event and Open to the Public This exhibition highlights diverse approaches to photography that foreground process, materiality, and the handmade in an age dominated by instant gratification and polished digital images. Curated by James Farley, The Material Image features works by Rebecca Chappelear, Madison Creech, Alison Harshbarger, Ava Hicks, Kyle Jernigan, Courtney Johnson, Andrew Jones, Chelsea Lea, Jennifer Mace, Lindy Schoenborn, Andrew Sherman, Nate Smith, and Melissa Wilgis. The exhibition explores photography as both image and object. From nineteenth-century processes on glass and metal to film photography, hand-printed and experimental printing techniques, and photographs made without cameras. The Material Image presents photography as a tactile and alchemical art form that is thriving here in Southeastern NC. Join us for a night of celebration and support local artists across our community! #wilmingtonnc @wilmingtondowntowninc @checkwhatsgood @acmeartstudios @thebrooklynartsdistrict