Artist Post 12: Julia Fullerton- Batten

Julia Fullerton-Batten

Julia Fullerton Batten was born in Bremen, Germany in 1970.  Fullerton-Batten attended Berkshire College of Art and Design, assisted for five years and then began to develop her own photographic style.  Fullerton-Batten was later signed up with a German agent and began receiving jobs that way boosting her into her professional career. Fullerton- Batten has received numerous awards including Communication Arts, Association of Photographers Awards (AOP), PDN/Nikon Self-Promo, and more. Julia is inspired by everyday life, art and cinema.   Julia Fullerton-Batten currently lives in London. 

Fullerton-Batten plays with scale especially in her “Teenage Stories Series.”  Julia Fullerton- Batten creates scenes (models) and photographs girls interacting with the scenes. Fullerton-Batten seems to enjoy the difference of scale between humans and the models she creates.  Fullerton-Batten said in reference to her project “Teenage Stories,” “The girls I photograph in these miniature villages interact with them much like children interact with their real surroundings, living inside their own dreams and fantasies rather than living in a specific house on a specific street. In their minds they can be giants moving through our world whilst always remaining separate to it, cocooned in their own dream like existence.”

Fullerton-Batten stated in reference to her work, “As soon as I saw the first of the miniature village I knew it was the perfect backdrop for this series. The strangeness of these environments perfectly echoes the strangeness I feel when I raid my own memories looking for events that I can turn into pictures.” Julia Fullerton Batten’s work interests me because of her use of models that she creates but also I appreciate the overall environment that she creates within each photograph.  

Julia Fullerton Batten’s work has a very distinct style.  Fullerton-Batten’s photographs often contain muted tones, with expressionless models, and very unique clothing chosen for her models, often uniforms.  Fullerton-Batten also uses flash when taking photographs however she often uses the flash to create shadows going in the wrong direction, making her final image slightly awkward.  Fullerton-Batten stated, “I like the light in my pictures to appear that it’s coming from the wrong place… “People who don’t really understand photography look at the pictures and think ‘there’s something a bit weird about that, but I don’t know what it is.’”

Julia Fullerton- Batten, Marbles, 2005

C-Print 16" x 20"

Julia Fullerton- Batten, Book, 2005

C-Print 16" x 20"

Julia Fullerton- Batten, Broken Eggs, 2005

C Print 16" x 20"

Julia Fullerton- Batten, Reflection in Water, 2005

C-Print 16"x 20"

Interview:  http://www.influxinsights.com/blog/article/891/influx-interview-photographer-julia-fullerton-batten.html

And http://www.valeriehersleven.com/pdfs/press/20.pdf

Works Cited

Julia Fullerton- Batten 21, November 2010. <http://www.juliafullerton-batten.com/>.

Farrell, Ian.  The Photography of the Month: Julia Fullerton- Batten.  February 2006.  21 November 2010.  <http://www.valeriehersleven.com/pdfs/press/20.pdf>.

InFlux. Interview with Julia Fullerton- Batten. 21 November 2010. <http://www.influxinsights.com/blog/article/891/influx-interview-photographer-julia-fullerton-batten.html>.