Julia Cumes named Artist of the Year by Arts Foundation of Cape Cod

In 2001, Julia Cumes had just made it to the Cape to start her career in photography as an intern for the Cape Cod Times after graduating from Syracuse University with her master's degree in photojournalism. Over two decades later, Cumes is still on the Cape celebrating a long career of telling the hard-to-tell stories of lives across the world.

“I've always been drawn to sort of telling stories about people who don't necessarily have access to power, who don't necessarily have much of a voice or visibility," she said.

In light of Cumes’ work and dedication to her craft, the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod has named her as Artist of the Year for 2024. She officially received her accolade during a ceremony at the Cahoon Museum on April 4.

“I feel extremely lucky,” she said. “This has been an incredible affirmation of my path. … When I received this, I was so shocked. The funny thing is I'm usually the person who's photographing the artists of the year… I didn't even know I was being considered for it.”

When it came to selecting the Artist of the Year for 2024, Julie Wake, executive director of the Arts Foundation, said the depth of Cumes’ work coupled with her dedication to the people behind her camera and the end product stood out.

“She's a tool to tell the story,” she said. “She's helping people tell stories that are really relevant right now that can often be very challenging to convey, but she does it in a very respectful, in-depth way.”

Julia Cumes named Artist of the Year by Arts Foundation of Cape Cod

Her interest in photography sparked as a child living in apartheid-era South Africa. While rummaging through her mother’s drawer, she stumbled across a series of black-and-white portraits taken by her mother of young children who the Apartheid Government had abused for “so-called anti-apartheid activities.” At the time, her mother was working for an organization that provided counseling to children “tortured” by the government.

“I was just so struck by what I was seeing (and) the power of those images to tell me a story that was happening right under my nose in South Africa that I didn't quite understand,” she said. “Even though I knew what was happening in South Africa to some degree, seeing those photographs told me the story in a way that hearing it verbally just doesn't translate.”

Julia Cumes' path to becoming a photographer

From that moment, Cumes was hooked. Her parents gifted her a film camera for her birthday and she began taking photos of everything, even teaching herself how to develop in a darkroom. In college, Cumes took a step away from photography, earning her BA from Brandeis and an MFA in writing from Cornell, but didn't stay gone for long.

"While I was (at Cornell) as a temporary lecturer, I was allowed to take one free class a semester and I started taking photography classes again," she said. "I was like, 'This to me. It just draws me so powerfully I want to make this my life.'"

And that she did. Across her career, Cumes has photographed everything from general newspaper assignments to the rescue efforts during Hurricane Katrina for the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the girls in India’s Devadasi System, a “sort of antiquated system of religiously sanctioned prostitution,” according to Cumes, for her project "God's Prostitutes — Investigating India's Devadasi System."

In a more recent project, “Trans(Formation),” Cumes took a look at the lives of transgender people on the Cape. After her nephew came out as trans at age 5, Cumes began looking at her own community and noticed a lack of visual representation of adult transgender individuals.

"I was imagining a child growing up here on Cape Cod and not seeing adult versions of themselves represented anywhere and so I thought, 'Wouldn't it be powerful to be able to tell the stories of people on Cape Cod who are transgender whose stories that might empower younger transgender people but then might be able to open the hearts of the community who (are) not necessarily open or who make assumptions about trans people.'"

Cumes created a series of collaborative portraits with those behind the lens, capturing each person's story and personality. In one, Nick Baulman, Barnstable High School's first transgender prom king, adorns his sash and crown posing inside his bedroom.

"All of the photographs and meetings I had with the people that I ended up photographing were about exploring their story and what they wanted to say in their particular photograph," Cumes said. "So the photographs are all really different stories (and) are incredibly powerful personal narratives or testimonies to their often very challenging life experiences."

Cumes is the third Artist of the Year, following painter Jo Hay (2022) and "visual artist, cartographer, naturalist, and printmaker" Mark Adams (2023.) A round table talk with the three recipients, moderated by Wake and Pete Hocking, will be held at 5 p.m. on April 24 at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod (307 Old Main St. in South Yarmouth.) Guests are asked to register for this free event at www.artsfoundation.org/.

A month later, Cumes's work, including "Wild Oyster Harvester, Wellfleet" a piece the Arts Foundation is auctioning off at their Arts Gala, will be displayed at the Twenty Summers Annex (494 Commercial St. Provincetown) as the Arts Foundation's celebrations continue. Guests can register for the free event at www.artsfoundation.org/.

To see more of Cumes' work, visit her website (www.juliacumesphoto.com/) and Instagram @JuliaCumes.)

Frankie Rowley covers entertainment and things to do. Contact her at frowley@capecodonline.com.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Julia Cumes celebrates being Art Foundation's Artist of the Year