Pete James

Peter James FRPS (1958–2018) was a British archivist and curator of photography, at Birmingham Central Library. He curated photographic exhibitions internationally and served as chair of the Committee of National Photography Collections, as well as receiving the Royal Photographic Society's Colin Ford Award.

Life and work James' interest in photography was kindled when he worked for Kodak in Harrow in the 1970s, and visited their Kodak Museum during his lunch breaks.

After obtaining a BA in Humanities, Ceramics and Art History from the Polytechnic of Wales in 1987, James arrived in Birmingham in 1986 to study the History of Photography, and Art & Design at Birmingham Polytechnic for his MA, which he received in 1989.

He was Curator of Photography Collections – a post created for him He also served as chair of the Committee of National Photography Collections. and a double Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society (FRPS),

He was a co-founder of the independent arts organisation GRAIN,

James died on 11 March 2018, His paper on Shaw was published posthumously, in the Royal Photographic Society journal Photo-Historian.

Legacy

A regular Peter James Lecture, inaugurated in 2018, commemorates James and his work.

His research papers are held at Birmingham City University.

Publications