Inside IN THE SKY: An Interview with James Bacchi
For more than a decade, photographer James Bacchi has been looking upward.
What began as an instinctive way of photographing architecture, cityscapes, and open sky gradually revealed itself as something larger. Across cities, buildings, changing light, and fleeting moments, the photographs shared a recurring visual tension: the constructed world meeting something expansive, unpredictable, and seemingly limitless.
That body of work became IN THE SKY, an ongoing photography series that Bacchi is now bringing into book form in collaboration with Baroque Medusa Media.
The photography book creates a different way to experience work that many viewers first encountered one image at a time. Instead of the speed of a social media feed, IN THE SKY allows the photographs to unfold in sequence, revealing connections between architecture, negative space, light, place, and the sky above them.
From the evolution of the series to the influence of Palm Springs and the Southern California desert, Bacchi discusses what brought IN THE SKY together, how he approaches the sequencing of photographs, and what he hopes remains with viewers long after the final page.
A Conversation with James Bacchi
What made you realize the photographs in IN THE SKY belonged together as a single body of work?
Eleven years ago, I did not initially set out to create a series. I was photographing instinctively. Over time, I began to recognize a recurring visual tension in the images: permanence set against something fleeting and unpredictable.
No matter the location, when I began placing these photographs beside one another, I realized they were not isolated observations. Each appeared to be an ongoing exploration of the same relationship. That recognition was the moment IN THE SKY became a single body of work.
The images in IN THE SKY span different cities, places, and moments. What connects them for you beyond simply looking upward?
What connects them is not the sky itself, but the point of tension where the sky meets the constructed world. In every city, I am drawn to how the urban landscape interrupts that open space.
The locations may change, but I am always searching for the same visual encounter: the deliberate against the accidental, and the human-made against something limitless.
Together, the photographs become less about documenting particular places and more about revealing a shared experience that exists above all of them.
Why did you decide that now was the right time to turn this series into a photography book?
After working on IN THE SKY for more than a decade, I felt the series had matured. There are hundreds of images at this point, which made me understand more fully what my intent was all along.
I’ve been posting an image every day on social media for years. These daily posts prompted this collaboration with BAROQUE MEDUSA MEDIA and me. The timing is so right.
I feel this book is not a conclusion to IN THE SKY, but a considered pause: a way of presenting what the series has become before it continues to evolve.
When you began selecting images for IN THE SKY, what were you looking for? Was there a particular feeling, composition, or visual thread that determined which photographs made the final cut?
I believe I was looking for a sense of continuity and visual rhythm, with an emphasis on sequence rather than simply choosing the strongest photographs individually.
It was important to strike an internal balance between observation and imagination. Luckily, a few personal favorites made the final cut.
How does experiencing these photographs in book form change the way you hope people engage with them compared with seeing an individual image on a screen or social media?
In book form, I hope these photographs can be experienced as part of a contemplative journey rather than individual images competing for attention.
A screen or social media feed encourages quick views, while a book invites a more attentive way of looking. Turning the pages allows connections to emerge gradually, giving each image space to resonate with those before and after it.
Palm Springs plays an important role in both your life and this project. How has living in the desert influenced the way you see architecture, light, sky, and negative space?
Palm Springs is the near perfect place to be at this point of my life. There are those days I long for the ocean, skyscrapers, and good Chinese.
More than any other city, Palm Springs has made me aware of how dramatically light can define a space. Desert light is so much more than illumination. It continually alters the relationship between architecture, the landscape, and its surroundings.
Even familiar buildings can appear differently from one hour to the next. The desert seems to encourage clarity and restraint, but it also offers a certain mystery.
When someone closes IN THE SKY after the final photograph, what do you hope stays with them?
I hope what remains is not so much a single image, but an awareness of how much can be discovered in an ordinary moment.
More than anything, I would like for IN THE SKY to leave behind a feeling of openness and quiet suspension.
If these photographs inspire someone to pause, look upward, and see something familiar differently, then IN THE SKY has achieved what I hoped it would.
IN THE SKY by James Bacchi is currently in development with Baroque Medusa Media. More from the project will be shared as the book takes shape.
Baroque Medusa 
You must be logged in to post a comment.