Wikipedia

Geoffrey James (photographer)

Geoffrey James RCA (born 1942)[1] is a Canadian photographer, living in Montreal. Early in his long career as a documentary photographer fascinated with the built environment - he was influenced lifelong by Eugene Atget - he made black-and-white panoramic landscapes. They illuminated his subjects, nature's spaces and the changes wrought by society on both its more idealized creations as in formal gardens as well as its darker side as in the asbestos mining landscape.[2] His aims were two-fold, both "Utopia" and "Dystopia". (Utopia/Dystopia was the title of his book/catalogue and retrospective at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa in 2008).

Geoffrey James
Born1942 (1942)
St. Asaph, Wales
NationalityCanadian
Known forphotographer
SpouseJessica Bradley

Around 2010 he was reborn as a digital photographer and his work, mainly of Toronto, though still intelligent and meditative, became more socially oriented.[3] In 2016, appropriately, he was appointed the first Photo Laureate of Toronto by Mayor John Tory.[4]

For some years, James has been fascinated with the modern architect Jože Plečnik (1875-1957) and his architecture, especially the social places he created, in Ljubljana, Slovenia and exhibited several shows about his work, both in Canada (2019) and abroad (2022). In 2023, James was described by Galleries West Magazine as a "consummate photographer with a distinctive vision".[5]

Life and work edit

James was born in St. Asaph, Wales and attended Wellington College, Berkshire, and Wadham College, Oxford, where he received a degree (modern history) in 1964. He is self-taught as a photographer, starting in 1965, when he moved to Philadelphia, got a job as a writer and reporter for the Philadelphia Bulletin,[2] and someone gave him a rudimentary panoramic camera from which he made contact prints.[6] He moved to Canada in 1966, where he was an associate editor of Time magazine in Montreal (1967–1975) and an administrator as head of the Visual Arts, film and Video section of the Canada Council, Ottawa (1975–1982).[2] From 1982 to 1984 James was a visiting professor at the University of Ottawa.[2][7] He lived in Montreal for his first 18 years in Canada, moved to Toronto in the mid-nineties, spent 25 years there,[6] and returned to Montreal in 2023 where he lives today.[8]

Photography for him was like "stepping into a river" which totally immersed him.[6] Between 1987 and 2002, he used large-format and panoramic film cameras to record landscape that has felt the impact of human activity, choosing as his subject places like the Roman Campagna and the landscapes of formal gardens (for six or seven years he photographed all the works of Frederick Law Olmstead, for instead). In the early 1990s he photographed the reverse of his earlier work, photographing asbestos mining sites and the US/Mexico border fence in southern California.[9][10] In the 2000s thinking of the example of Josef Sudek, he studied suburban and urban landscape[11] in cities such as Paris, France (2001) (he didn't photograph the tourist sites which to him were a giant cliché),[6] Lethbridge, Alberta (2002) and Toronto, Ontario (2006) with which he has a love/hate relationship.[6] A retrospective of his work, Utopia/Dystopia: The Photographs of Geoffrey James was exhibited by the National Gallery of Canada in 2008. He changed into a digital photographer around 2010 and his photographs became more socially oriented.[3] Before Kingston Penitentiary in Kingston officially closed in 2013, he made a formal study documenting and memorializing it during its final period of operation,[12] which was published in 2014.

He has been impressed with the fascinating but little known modern architect Jože Plečnik (1875-1957) and his architecture, especially the social places he created, in Ljubljana, Slovenia, for many years and has been planning to do a book of photographs on his achievements.[6] In 2019, he exhibited a show about Plečnik, Working Spaces/CivicSettings: Joze Plecnik in Ljubljana at the Daniels School of Architecture, Toronto, Ontario[13] and in 2022 he exhibited Social Spaces: Joze Plecnik and Ljubljana in the Architecturzentrum Wien, Vienna, Austria and at UNESCO, Paris, France.[14] "There is a combination of the social and the spiritual in Plečnik's work that is not evident in most of the architectural photographs I have seen," James said about Plečnik.[13]

James's thoughtful photographs, taken at both day and night, and through the seasons, show Plečnik’s studio and the wide range of his urban achievements. In the exhibition at the Daniels School of Architecture, photographs on multiple digital screens illuminated the architect’s hugely successful social spaces.[13]


James has said of photography that "today we're drowning in a sea of images".[6] He also down plays the ability of photography to change society. As he has said:

"There's a kind of truism now in art, that you know, all good art is political. I'm not sure that's true. I think my work deals with the real world and it deals sometimes with social problems but I've absolutely no delusions about the power of art to change peoples minds. I think the least effective way of effecting social change is to take photographs".[15]

He believes that the best photography tells what it is like to be somewhere, that it has "a mnemonic power that no other medium has, [that is,] a power to recall things".[12] For James, "a really good photo can be an object of reverie, of dreaming" and he hopes his photography will be remembered for that quality.[6]

Selected publications edit

James has said that a book of photographs of his work is his primary medium because it has sequence which is preferable to him because he creates in a series. His work is slow to get a reaction so these books are to him like sending "a message in a bottle".[6] Some of the books and catalogues in which his work appears are the following:

  • James, Geoffrey (1991). La Campagna Romana / Geoffrey James. Montreal: Éditions Galerie René Blouin. Retrieved 24 April 2024.;
  • James, Geoffrey (1991). The Italian garden / photographs by Geoffrey James. New York: H. N. Abrams. ISBN 0810934566. Retrieved 24 April 2024.;
  • Viewing Olmsted / photographs by Robert Burley, Lee Friedlander and Geoffrey James. Montréal: Centre canadien d'architecture = Canadian Centre for Architecture (edited with a prologue by Phyllis Lambert and an essay be John Szarkowski). 1996. ISBN 0920785581. Retrieved 24 April 2024.;
  • Running fence : Geoffrey James. North Vancouver: Presentation House Gallery. 1999. ISBN 092029345X. Retrieved 24 April 2024. (essays by Elizabeth Armstrong, Sebastian Rotella, Dot Tuer);
  • Damisch, Hubert (2001). Paris: Photographs by Geoffrey James. Paris, Fr.: Services culturels de l'Ambassade du Canada. ISBN 1896940218. Retrieved 24 April 2024.;
  • Jansma, Linda (2001). Geoffrey James; Parks and Walkways of Oshawa. Oshawa: Robert McLaughlin Gallery. ISBN 0921500416. Retrieved 24 April 2024.;
  • Wiebe, Rudy (2002). Place : Lethbridge, a city on the prairie. Vancouver ; Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre. ISBN 1550549316. Retrieved 24 April 2024.;
  • Geoffrey James: Past/Present/Future. Toronto: University of Toronto Art Centre in cooperation with The University of Toronto's Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. 2003. ISBN 0-7727-0652-2. Retrieved 24 April 2024.;
  • Young, Brian (2003). Respectable burial : Montreal's Mount Royal Cemetery. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 0773525297.;
  • Toronto / Geoffrey James. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. 2006. ISBN 9781553652069. Retrieved 24 April 2024. (introduction by Mark Kingwell);
  • Pauli, Lori (2008). Utopia/Dystopia : Geoffrey James. Ottawa and Vancouver: National Gallery of Canada: Douglas & McIntyre. ISBN 9781553653479. Retrieved 24 April 2024.(essays by Stephen Bann and Britt Salvesen);
  • James, Geoffrey (2008). Field notes / Geoffrey James. Kitchener: Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery. ISBN 9780978266998. Retrieved 24 April 2024.;
  • James, Geoffrey (2014). Inside Kingston Penitentiary (1835-2013). London, Eng.: Black Dog Publishing. ISBN 9781908966766. Retrieved 24 April 2024.;
  • Residue : the persistence of the real. London, England and Vancouver, BC: Black Dog Publishing and Vancouver Art Gallery. 2015. ISBN 978-1910433263. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  • Kealy, Séamus; Boué, F.P. (2014). Punctum : Bemerkungen zur Photographie = Reflections on photography. Salzburg: Fotohof Edition and Salzburger Kunstverein. ISBN 978-3902993052. Retrieved 25 April 2024.

Selected exhibitions edit

In 1971, James began exhibiting his work publicly. His first solo exhibition was at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University in Montreal. He had many solo shows afterwards, both nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at NSCAD (1983), at the University of Kent, England (1985), the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa (1986), The Power Plant, Toronto (1993), the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario (2001), a retrospective at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario (2008), and at the Oregon Centre for the Photographic Arts, Portland, Oregon (2010).[16] In 2019 and 2022, he concentrated on shows about Jože Plečnik and his architecture, especially the social places he created, in Ljubljana, Slovenia.[14]

His group shows at both public and private galleries are numerous. His work was included in exhibitions starting in 1977 with 13 Canadian Photographers, Madison Art Center, Madison, Wisconsin and included afterwards in shows in such places as Paris, France (1987), Budapest, Hungary (1987), New York (1987, at the MoMA in 1996 and 2009), Los Angeles (1990, 1991, 1996)), Kassel, Germany (1992), Naples, Italy (1994), at the Canadian Centre for Architecture Montreal, Quebec (1996, 2000), and National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (1998, 2007, 2012), and elsewhere.[16] In 2022, his work was included in a group exhibition titled Wanderlust: Around the World in 80 Photographs at Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto[17] and also in an exhibition titled I Was Here at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.[18] He is represented by Trépanier Baer Gallery, Calgary, Alberta; Equinox Gallery in Vancouver[19] and Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto.

Selected works in public collections edit

Honours edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Geoffrey James". Meet the Artist. National Gallery of Canada. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d "Collection". www.gallery.ca. National Gallery of Canada. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Interview". www.youtube.com. Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Article". www.gallerieswest.ca. Galleries West Magazine, 2016. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  5. ^ Ylitalo, Katherine. "Article". www.gallerieswest.ca. Galleries West Magazine, 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Photography as a way to explore the world. Interview with Geoffrey James". www.youtube.com. the conference "City as a classroom". Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  7. ^ "Geoffrey James". Canadian Photographic Portfolio Society. Archived from the original on 22 March 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  8. ^ "Speakers". lccphoto.org. Lakeshore Camera Club. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  9. ^ Kozinska, Dorota (2008). "Utopia/Dystopia: The Photographs of Geoffrey James". Vie des Arts. 52 (212): 18–19. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  10. ^ "Geoffrey James: The Landscape and the Camera". Canadian Art. Canadian Art Foundation. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  11. ^ "Article". canadianart.ca. Canadian Art. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  12. ^ a b "Exhibitions". agnes.queensu.ca. Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingson. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  13. ^ a b c "Exhibitions". www.daniels.utoronto.ca/. Daniels School of Architecture, U of t. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  14. ^ a b c "Artists c.v." (PDF). www.bulgergallery.com. Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  15. ^ "Geoffrey James – Clip 5" (PDF). Meet the Artist. National Gallery of Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Geoffrey James c.v., Trépanier Baer Gallery, Calgary, Alberta.
  17. ^ "Exhibitions". www.bulgergallery.com. Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  18. ^ "Exhibitions" (PDF). ago.ca. Art Gallery of Ontario. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  19. ^ "Artists". www.equinoxgallery.com. Equinox Gallery, Van. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  20. ^ "Collection". agnes.queensu.ca. Agnes Etherington Art Centre. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  21. ^ "Collection". macrepertoire.macm.org. MAC. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  22. ^ "Collection". www.moma.org/. MoMA, New York. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  23. ^ "Collection". www.wag.ca. Winipeg Art Gallery. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  24. ^ "Prizes". Canada Council. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  25. ^ "Recipients". iskowitzfoundation.ca. Gershon Iskowitz Foundation Prize. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  26. ^ "Members since 1880". Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  27. ^ "Recipients". Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 22 April 2024.

External links edit

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