Hi, My name is James and I make things…

If I have done my job well then you will look at these things. If I have not done my job, then you will instead look at any number of other things that I did not make.

My background:

With an affinity for all things visual, drawing and painting were the focus of my youth.  I studied Art, Theatre and Set Design at Trinity Western University (1996-2001), where I participated in a few art shows and had a solo exhibition of my painted works in April 2000. Shortly after graduating I taught myself photography & photoshop, and for the past 20 years have focused on photography, working commercially as an architectural/interior photographer, and focusing on fine art photography in my spare time, with prints exhibited in the ARTS 2022 juried exhibition at Surrey Art Gallery, as well as the gallery’s 2019 show “The Built World Around Us” with Surrey Photography Club.

While my other modes of artistic expression deal more with the internal, photography is my way to engage more with the external.  My experience in commercial work has helped define my relationship to the camera as just a tool and not the mysterious thing it once seemed- and the image, not the process, as the sole commanding concern, which gives me freedom to pursue my intention for each endeavour, whether that means countless hours making refinements and creative decisions in Photoshop, or none at all.

Though I’ve been leaning further into more conceptual work, the environment of the Pacific Northwest have been focal to both my work and spirit. Capturing the essence of forest and coastal scenes has been a primary endeavour. Photographing in nature, I see the compositions that many abstract & expressionist painters strive for, the lines and the fields of colour.   Although I can’t resist an epic scene, I am often drawn to relatively minimalist or abstract compositions, and enjoy finding compelling imagery in overlooked places, even more than the obviously spectacular locations.

Born in Victoria, BC, I currently reside near Vancouver, BC with my wife and three children, after briefly living in the US and Japan. When I’m not working on commercial photographs of buildings and interiors, I’m often out photographing anything else that catches my eye, or making other types of art.