About James
A few things about my life:
- Father
- Former British Army intelligence officer
- Technology and cybersecurity entrepreneur
- Documentary photographer and filmmaker exploring identity, community, and change
- Advisor to organisations working in complex environments
- Yorkshireman (living in London)
Drawn to stories of belonging, resilience, and what makes life meaningful
“We are all one. Only egos, beliefs and fears seperate us.”— Nikola Tesla
The Longer Verison
I’m a photographer and visual storyteller interested in what it means to live a meaningful life in a fragmented world.
My earlier life followed a different path. After studying Computer Science at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), I served as a British Army officer, leading a team of paratroopers in high-risk environments, spending time in the Middle East. I later returned to my early passion of technology, where I focussed on cybersecurity, founding and eventually selling one of the UK’s pre-eminent cybersecurity businesses. Much of that work took place in environments where discretion, risk and consequence mattered deeply.
From the outside, it looked like success. From the inside, it raised quieter questions. Over time, my focus shifted away from systems and strategy, and towards people — what holds communities together, what pulls them apart, and what happens when belonging, presence and meaning begin to erode.
Photography became the way I slowed down and paid attention. My work now centres on human-focused storytelling: portraits, short films and long-form documentary projects that explore community, identity, resilience and connection. I’m drawn to stories that live beneath the headlines — the quiet work of rebuilding, the search for dignity, and the ways people make sense of loss and change.
I work across social impact, philanthropy and purpose-led organisations, often in partnership with foundations and charities, to help bring their work into view in a way that feels honest and human. Alongside this, I’m developing longer-term personal projects exploring themes such as the loss of community, digital distraction, intergenerational trauma, and our disconnection from nature and one another.
My approach is shaped as much by contemplative traditions and Buddhist philosophy as it is by documentary photography. I’m less interested in providing answers than in holding better questions — and in creating work that gives people space to reflect, feel, and perhaps see themselves, and the world, a little differently.