Liminal Traces: Brisbane Photographer Lex Lucas Lets Time Unfold Within an Image

"Photography is usually about capturing a fraction of a second," says Brisbane photographer Lex Lucas. "I'm interested in what happens when we allow time to unfold within an image — capturing the essence and duration of movement, and the liminal space between moments."

That idea is the subject of Liminal Traces, an exhibition of 20 large-scale photographic works opening at Brisbane Square Library on Monday 9 November. It runs in the Level 2 Gallery at 266 George Street until Sunday 13 December, and entry is free.

Each image is a single exposure made in the camera, not a digital composite or a multiple exposure. Long exposure, intentional movement, fabric, light and shadow do the work.

Image from Liminal Traces. Photo: Lex Lucas

"Liminal" refers to a threshold, the in-between space where one moment passes into the next. The exhibition explores the space between stillness and movement, presence and disappearance, and control and surrender.

"These photographs are not necessarily about a single event or emotion," Lucas says. "I'm interested in that sense of being suspended between what has just happened and what is still becoming. I want viewers to bring their own experiences and interpretations to the work."

Lucas's interest in photography began in a high-school darkroom, where he learned to shoot and develop black-and-white film. "Watching an image slowly emerge on photographic paper sparked a fascination that has stayed with me ever since," he says.

He went on to study photography, filmmaking and television production at the Queensland College of Art. He is a Fellow of the Australian Photographic Society, holds the Artiste FIAP distinction and is a member of Brisbane Camera Group.

Liminal Traces runs from Monday 9 November to Sunday 13 December 2026 at Brisbane Square Library, Level 2 Gallery, 266 George Street, Brisbane. Entry is free.