User:Will Charnley/sandbox

= Alexander James =

Alexander James (born Alexander James Hamilton, London 1967) is a British London based artist known for photographing his subjects under water.

James produces works of underwater photographs taken of crafted sculptural scenes. Many of his subjects include handmade props, home grown period flowers and butterfly’s he has raised himself. Even many of the costumes worn by the models in his works have been made by the artist himself.

The motivation behind his work is often born from a desire to create a homage to loss, however rather than focusing on despondency, James reflects on how death emphasises beauty. He is not concerned with wider political issues, with exception however to the conservation of the natural world, which is a key theme throughout much of his works.

Working primarily with vintage analogue large format cameras, Alexander James uses no post production to enhance his images as part of his ethos of ‘in camera purity’.

James finds inspiration from the Vanitas artistic genre of the 16th Century. In 2017 James commented on his latest exhibition ‘Death of the Dream’ – “This exhibition represents that I am only satisfied when I cannot distinguish whether I am looking at a painting or a photograph”.

He lives and works in London, however has spent several years working in Russia.