Bio:
James was born in London. He now lives in Marseille, France.
His career to date has been very much a naturally evolving process of experimentation
in different genres of photography, from reportage and portraiture to contemporary documentary projects.
Working with this artistic freedom, unconstrained by pre-formulated ideas of what art is,
could be considered to be founded on an absence of classical training or education in photography.
Banned, a photographic essay he shot in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Taliban,
received widespread acclaim and he was the recipient of several international awards.
Images from the series were exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery in London.
For the past decade he has been concentrating on fine-art landscape projects, his long-term work
- Lightscapes - was selected for the
Hyeres International Festival of Fashion and Photography, in 2010.
In 2011 James collaborated with the celebrated Belgian fashion designer Dries Van Noten.
Images from his Lightscapes series were reproduced on fabric to create garments for Dries’
2012 Summer women’s collection. Following the success of Dries’ catwalk show in Paris exhibitions
were organised of James’ work, alongside some of the garments from the collection, in Vienna, Hong Kong, Paris, Tokyo and Atlanta.
In March 2015 James travelled to the Northwest Territories in Canada. He was invited to be the
first fine-art photographer to visit the Diavik Diamond Mine.
The work he produced there over 3 days - 64 Degrees North -
will be exhibited at Kensington Palace in London in December 2015.
Awards:
National Portrait Gallery/Schweppes Portrait Prize
Observer Hodge Award
Fifty Crows Documentary Award
The Independent/Wanderlust/Nikon, Professional Travel Photographer of the Year
Exhibitions (selected):
2015
Galerie Omnius
Arles, France
Lightscapes
Mode Museum (MoMu)
Anvers, Belgique
Lightscapes – Inspirations, Dries Van Noten
2014
Galerie Omnius
Arles, France
Lightscapes
Musée des Arts Décoratifs
Paris, France
Lightscapes – Inspirations, Dries Van Noten
2012
Hagedorn Gallery
Atlanta, USA
Lightscapes
Upon Paper Gallery
Berlin
Lightscapes
Joyce Gallery
Paris
Lightscapes
2011
Song Song Gallery
Vienna
Lightscapes
Fringe Club
Hong Kong
Lightscapes
DVN Gallery
Tokyo
Lightscapes
2010
Hyeres International Festival of
Fashion & Photography
France
Lightscapes
2005
The Lowry Gallery
Schweppes Portrait Prize
Manchester, UK
Banned - Afghanistan
National Portrait Gallery
Schweppes Portrait Prize
London, UK
Amputee Football Team - Finalist
Afghanistan Olympic Squad - Exhibition Image
2004
Proud Central Gallery
London, UK
’Sometimes Words are Too Slow’
Forum Collective
Banned – Afghanistan