Interview: Jim Richards, aka Makerjim, Photographer

1.  Tell us about your journey in becoming a photographer.

Still photography is a paring down and simplification of the motion photography I began with as an experimental super-8 filmmaker. My films almost always included the rephotography and animation of still images.

In an ongoing exploration of the experience of awareness, I try to look at the essence of what I am doing. The essence of 18 fps (frames per second) is the single frame. As an image-maker, I try to use awareness to experience what I hope to be an expanding consciousness of what is around me and my responses to what I find there. 

2.  You have a three-month exhibition as part of the UNESCO OCEAN DECADE TIDES OF CHANGE WAVES OF HOPE ART SHOW at Fulton Center New York. Tell us about your interest in sea walls and how you produced this series of works.

I began photographing the first sea wall in Washington State on the shores of Puget Sound. I noticed a sea wall and moved closer. I saw the amazing colors and textures all over the wall. I made an image, then stepped right, saw a whole new composition, and made another, continuing to step right and photograph.

I was astonished by the beauty of the wall, which was completely incidental to the original intention of the wall's construction. The beauty that I found there was the result of countless impacts of natural elements: water, salt, wind, and time on this large metal structure. The practice of awareness yielded this reward.  And, coincidentally, considering my motion picture roots, if you were to animate the series of images of this first sea wall in order, you would have a nice tracking shot of the length of the wall.

3. How do sea walls address community resilience to ocean hazards,  which is the focus of the UNESCO OCEAN DECADE that is interested in research infrastructure, inclusive and sustainable ocean economy, marine policy and ocean governance?

Sea walls provide protection to dry land from water erosion. In this way, they allow for a cohabitation of dry land and oceans, as well as for all of the living plants and creatures that inhabit each habitat. In this way, sea walls are an example of how humans can find ways to coexist with the oceans. I hope that human beings can appreciate the opportunity created by the sea walls in establishing a way of mutual existence. My hope is that this awareness will foster the creation of other ways in which the oceans and humanity can work together to enjoy the beauty inherent in each of them.

4. Where is the UNESCO OCEAN DECADE TIDES OF CHANGE WAVES OF HOPE ART SHOW taking place, and for how long?

The UNESCO OCEAN DECADE TIDES OF CHANGE WAVES OF HOPE ART SHOW will be displayed in several windows in the Fulton Center from April 1 through June 30, 2024.

5. Do you have any other Ocean themed art shows planned for this year? 

I am most honored to be included in the Pink & Blue Art Show At Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY, from August 10 - September 29, 2024, which will be a NY Climate Change Event curated by Selva Ozelli.

I am also working on a series exploring impermanence, which includes the ever-changing qualities of life and nature in which oceans play a significant role as they continually reshape themselves and their extremities.

6. In addition to your  Sea Wall series, you will exhibit your New Orleans Oak Tree Series at the Pink & Blue art show. Tell us about your interest in Oak Trees of New Orleans and what led you to produce this series of work.

The Anseman and McDonogh Oak Trees, currently residing in City Park in New Orleans, are among the oldest and most beautiful trees in the country. I discovered them in 2011 on my way to Jazz Fest and became considerably focused on their majesty and brilliance. I had just converted my camera to see infrared light, a spectrum invisible to the human eye. This modification offered me the opportunity to see things in a unique way.

Considering this, I thought about the fact that parts of New Orleans sit as much as 10’ below sea level, putting these magnificent individuals at considerable risk to rising ocean levels. I made many images of these wonderful trees, considering that I might not see them again. I hope that people will think about this and do what they can to help mitigate climate change and the resulting sea level rise to help preserve these trees so that more than these images survives.

7. In addition to your Sea Wall and Oak Tree series, you will exhibit your Windows series at the Pink and Blue Art show. Tell us what led you to produce this series of work, which represents your imagination with outside showing signs of impacts from climate change to anything and everything imaginable—such as the heat, the pink and blue skies of pollution, the rising oceans….  

The Windows were conceived during the initial lockdown of the COVID-19 Pandemic. My studio was one of the few places I could go at the time. On the 4th floor of a 150 year old former silk factory, it was a place for me to spend time and think, exploring abandoned spaces and looking out of these beautiful old windows. I thought about that perspective, being inside and looking out. The ability to look at the world through the windows was a refuge in that time of isolation. And, the windows had lost a lot of their clarity, being old, broken, dirty and obscured by plastic and other obstructions accumulated over time.

My imagination bloomed in these obstructions. I imagined a time when the earth could become healthier, as it did during that time, with less impact from human air and water pollution. The windows became a lense through which I could imagine possibilities and a better condition for the planet. I hope this is something viewers of this work will consider and act on as they work to reduce pollution and CO2 emissions and mitigate climate change and rising sea levels.

8.  Anything else you would like to add.

I am so honored to have my work included in these exhibitions and carry with it messages that I hope will trigger more thought about what we can do to reduce climate change and inspire ideas and creative solutions to the problems that result from air, water, land, and sound pollution.

I am grateful for the opportunity to show images that depict the beauty that I have found on our planet, that beauty being fragile and requiring our attention and action. I hope that through these ideas people realize and take responsibility for what humans have done to this amazing planet and find it necessary to work toward a better environment for this earth, our fellow humans, and our flora and fauna.

9. How can people reach you? 

I can be reached on IG: @makerjim and @makerjimshows, as well as through my website: www.makerjim.com.