Text: MARGITA INGWALL

When an artist’s gaze pairs with that of a life-exploring, film-making archaeologist, the resulting works vibrate with energy. Julia Fullerton-Batten is driven by a powerful urge to bring the images and scenes emerging from her ongoing fantasies to life.

“It reaches a point where they simply have to be made. Nothing can stop me then, and I am completely dedicated. Whether people appreciate or despise them matters less; they are created and fill me with pride. The worst thing that could happen is that the audience remains indifferent. I would rather inspire strong dislike or approval than an indifferent 'okay.'”

Some artists manage to capture fleeting moments, exactly the moment just before or after something significant has happened or is about to happen. It is in that moment that drama is created, and in the interaction between the work and the viewer, the scene comes to life. Not because the artist is pointing a finger, but because the need to express oneself is as deep as it is sincere. A need that the viewer is invited to share and make their own. It opens up communication both inwardly and with the outside world. For artist Julia Fullerton-Batten, this process has been ongoing since she first picked up a camera, driven by a desire to explore and investigate where the work poses questions rather than provides answers.

I have a very vivid imagination where different stories are constantly playing out, and some affect me so strongly that I just have to get them done.

“My art is often like short scenes from a film, sometimes just a frame, sometimes a longer sequence. I have a very vivid imagination where different stories are constantly playing out, and some affect me so strongly that I just have to get them done. I have to create tableaus from a blank canvas where, like a painter, I fill the surface, the space I’ve cleared of everything, then I insert people, objects, light, and a mood. Often carefully selected from London’s giant film and theater production warehouses or my own archive, a treasure trove of fascinating garments that I see as works of art. Some projects go on for several years, others for a shorter time with a clear beginning and end.”

Her recent projects are clear examples of these two completely different approaches. The series about Frida Kahlo is the result of five intense weeks in Mexico at the end of last year.

“Both Frida and Mexico became like a love affair for me, and my intention wasn’t to bring her to life but to recreate her dramatic story. Among other things, by collaborating with a costume designer to create Oaxacan, the traditional clothes Frida wore and which we’ve come to know through her many self-portraits. Careful research is always an important part of my work, and I wanted to capture her great love for her homeland and how strongly she identified with this culture.”

 

From the Series  Old Father Thames

The work on the other series, Old Father Thames, has instead spanned many years and has now gained great international success, despite focusing on a British national treasure: the River Thames. Flowing through London for millennia, it almost neighbors Fullerton-Batten and her family—her photographer husband and two children.

“The children accompanied their mother on treasure hunts on the Thames' riverbed, revealed at low tide. Searching for more or less historical artifacts, as the river has flowed through many eras. Everything from Roman coins to 18th-century medicine bottles is found here, all containing a shard of history. What glimmers among all the discarded rubbish usually hidden at the bottom of a river are artifacts that become great art through Fullerton-Batten’s lens.”

Today, it’s a popular pastime. In the past, it was a lifeline in the fight for survival for the very poorest, where small children and the elderly could have the finds from “Father River” as their only source of income. “So much has happened here, and I wanted to tell its breathtaking history.”

That the series has garnered so much positive international attention surprised me, as the Thames is such a distinctly British symbol. “But apparently, more people than I are fascinated, and they gladly want to hang these imaginative works in their homes.”

Being driven by the desire to create the fantasies playing out in her own head, without ever glancing at what others might want to appreciate, is as genuine as it is a winning formula. The works radiate authenticity with their carefully carved expressions. Not explanatory—but interpretive, with an open gaze that continues 'In the Eye of the Beholder.'

Since the beginning of her photographic career, when she studied photography and worked for several years as an assistant to advertising and fashion photographers, and later photographed herself for clients like Vogue, the drive has remained the same. To be in process, investigating, researching carefully, feeling if the story holds, and then staging it. Among other things, to try to understand more about herself and her own story. Some works are more apparent, others hidden in the mystery of the subconscious.

“My first projects, like Teenager, worked as therapy when, at 28, I sought to stage events from my upbringing. Growing up in Germany in the 'perfect middle-class family,' where my mother was careful to have beauty around her and cared much about appearances. The advantage was that I learned to love the beauty of quality, but the downside was the focus on what was presented.”

She describes a life that abruptly ended when her parents suddenly divorced, and her father took her and her siblings to England. “He wanted a complete restart, so his daughter didn’t even get to bring her diary or other important personal items. The ties with her mother were almost severed, as they could rarely contact each other and even less frequently meet.”

“The illusion crashed, and the experiences surrounding their divorce, which was the first in our circle, created a strong sense of unreality in me. Here, art has absolutely been a way to process and try to understand what really happened to me.”

Career-wise, things moved quickly when Teenager gained attention, and her career as an artist took off. Other series followed, where Fullerton-Batten turned her camera outward, telling stories that fascinated her. For example, about children who grow up without a deeper connection to other people, instead seeking animals for their survival—so-called feral children. What does that experience do to an individual?

Another series broke new ground by portraying large-bodied people in a time when the media was obsessed with weight.

“Back then, plus-size models were a novelty, and I wanted to show them in magnificent historical costumes in tableaus referencing classic master paintings. Give them an honorable place in a society obsessed with thinness, driven not by health but by the idea of this often unattainable state as an ideal.”

Her works often express restrained emotions and evoke, with a silent invitation, the viewer's imagination, encouraging new thoughts. Her unique style has not only captured the interest of collectors but also led to prestigious commissions. Most recently, for a cause she strongly shares.

“I was contracted, after a selection process where 29 photographers were approached, by a socially engaged billionaire to photograph a series where people, like Jesus, wash each other's feet. These still images were then shown for 60 seconds at the Super Bowl. The message strongly appealed to me in this time of polarization: that we must be kinder and more compassionate.”

She is convinced of art's role in fostering more social engagement.

“Our relationship with art can be compared to that with food. Sure, you can eat something just because you’re hungry or live without any art. But think about all the time and passion we invest in selecting products, preparing them according to recipes we follow or adapt, searching for experiences to share around a dinner table. The same goes for art; it awakens our curiosity and desire to explore and experience. It rekindles our zest for life.”