Artist Interview: Conversation with Alex Walker

Alex Walker is a colour darkroom photographer based in Naarm/Melbourne whose practice explores analogue processes, expanded photographic theory and spatial perception. Her work focuses on the alchemical transformation of photography and the liminal space between the moment light is captured and the emergence of the developed image.

Walker’s body of work, the image is not merely a surface, comprises eight abstract colour darkroom prints framed in stained Tasmanian Oak. This series reflects Walker’s intricate process in the darkroom - where time collapses and extends; where making, printing, and framing an image become part of the same continuum.

This interview between Alex Walker and Sophie Holvast, MAMA Education Officer, occurred in July 2026.

I read recently that your first word as a young child was ‘light!’. Could you describe how your practice explores light as an active force and as subject matter?

It was! I really took that and ran with it didn’t I? I’ve always felt very drawn to light, the way it folds across surfaces and shimmers through trees. How it creates shadows, holds colour, and can transform an object into an image. It’s universal. I am not the first and certainly will not be the last artist to explore light as a subject. That said, because of the medium I work with, I am always thinking about (and working with) light, which definitely bleeds into my artwork. In the colour darkroom, light has the power to develop and destroy an image. You need both the presence and the complete absence of light to make a print successfully. Unlike the black and white darkroom, there is no red light to help you navigate or see what you are doing. I made these works in total darkness - guided purely by my body and muscle memory.

The compositions of your work are abstract and non-representational, enabling viewers to engage in open-ended acts of looking. Your installations often invite an active audience engagement or navigation. How important to you is the viewer’s experience of your work?

The viewer’s experience is a very important part of my work, I’d go so far to say it’s integral. Abstract imagery, like colour field painting, gives more room for personal interpretation. What we each bring with us as an audience when viewing a work is unique (our colour associations, memories etc) and I consider that act of perception a part of the work itself. I am also eager to give the viewer a sense of agency. They determine where they want to view the work from and how they want to navigate the space - I want to draw attention to that feeling.

The way I present my work is an extension of the making process, referencing the deep awareness I feel of my body as it moves through space while printing in the colour darkroom. I install my works in dialogue with the space they are presented in, drawing attention to particular architectural elements and sightlines which shift and change as you move. I have made works that are double sided such as hand print 02 | 03, which requires the viewer to physically move around the work to see both sides. In this iteration at MAMA, the work is installed up high, so you will need to look up from the ground level and then move to the mezzanine level to view it closely. I have also tilted the prints forward and backward in the frame to give a sense that the work is looking back at you.

The process of hand-printing colour photographs in a darkroom requires extraordinary mastery, patience and intuition. Working in darkness, and in a space of alchemy and flux, how do you contend with the notion of control with process and outcome?

Working with analogue photography there is a lot of uncertainty throughout the process, from developing the negative to making the final print. I have a deep understanding of the process, yes, but there is still an element of surprise inherent in making a work. For example, there have been times when I have adjusted filtration with the intention of producing a particular outcome or colour and the result is nowhere near what I expected! I find that terribly exciting, working in this way feels like a collaboration. I happily relinquish control when needed, leaning into the symbiotic, or as you said, ‘alchemic’ nature of the colour darkroom. I love it!

Alex Walker is a finalist of the 2026 National Photography Prize, presented by the MAMA Art Foundation.

On until 22 November 2026

Photography by Jeremy Weihrauch