James PANCHMATIA: So many stories you’ll just never hear

2026 MAPh Photography Fair

James PANCHMATIA
So many stories you’ll just never hear 2025
pigment ink-jet prints
unframed
118.0 x 186.0 cm (overall)
ed. 1/1
collection of the artist
courtesy of the artist

This artwork was a finalist in our annual TOPshots competition and exhibition held in the MAPh Atrium Gallery, 11 March – 4 May 2026.

TOPshots is an annual celebration of emerging photo-media artists selected from a large pool of entries. 2026 marks the 18th anniversary of this award and exhibition, which showcases exceptional photographic work produced by students who have completed the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) subjects of Art Making and Exhibiting, Art Creative Practice and Media, as well as the International Baccalaureate (IB) subject of Visual Arts and the Vocational Education and Training (VET) subject of Visual Arts.

Artist statement

Observing society in both individual and collective senses through an architectural lens, the buildings we as people inhabit and live within are regarded as a metaphor for all the unique lives throughout our society and how said lives impact the environments, specifically via the structures that are constructed and inhabited. Each window marking a story of what exists within; every photo tells a vignette of a human experience and how it has shaped the world around it, both in the personal and environmental aspects. A story may be faintly seen but never fully heard.