Peter James FRPS (1958–2018) was a British archivist and curator of photography, at

Birmingham Central Library Birmingham Central Library was the main public library in Birmingham, England, from 1974 until 2013, replacing a library opened in 1865 and rebuilt in 1882. For a time the largest non-national library in Europe, it closed on 29 June 2013 and was ...

. He curated photographic exhibitions internationally and served as chair of the Committee of National Photography Collections, as well as receiving the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

's Colin Ford Award.

Life and work

James' interest in photography was kindled when he worked for

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

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 , image_name = University of Glamorgan arms.png , image_size = 220px , caption = University of Glamorgan coat of arms , motto = Success Through Endeavour , established = , closed = , administrative_staff = , chancellor = John Morris ...

in 1987, James arrived in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

in 1986 to study the History of Photography, and Art & Design at

Birmingham Polytechnic , mottoeng = "Do what you are doing; attend to your business" , established = 1992—gained university status1971—City of Birmingham Polytechnic1843— Birmingham College of Art , type = Public , affiliation = ...

for his MA, which he received in 1989. He was Curator of Photography Collections – a post created for him – at

(latterly the

Library of Birmingham A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

) from January 1989 to October 2015. His work there resulted in the library's photography collection becoming one of the United Kingdom's National Collections of Photography. In 2015,

Birmingham City Council Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom (e ...

made drastic cuts to the Library of Birmingham's funding, and in October that year, James and the entire photography department team were made redundant. James curated photographic exhibitions in Birmingham, at the Libraries where he worked, at

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BM&AG) is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, local ...

, and at

Ikon Gallery The Ikon Gallery () is an English gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Grade II listed, neo-gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henry Chamberlain in 1877. Ikon was set u ...

; in London, at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, the National Portrait Gallery, and at

Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...

; and overseas, at the

Royal Palace of Milan The Royal Palace of Milan (Italian: ''Palazzo Reale di Milano'') was the seat of government in the Italian city of Milan for many centuries. Today, it serves as a cultural centre and it is home to international art exhibitions. It spans through ...

and

Museum Africa Museum Africa or MuseuMAfricA (formerly known as the Africana Museum) is an historical museum in Newtown, Johannesburg, South Africa. History The museum was established in 1933, when the Johannesburg Public Library bought a large quantity of ...

, Johannesburg. He also served as chair of the Committee of National Photography Collections. He was an Accredited Senior in Imaging in the Creative Industries (ASICI) and a double Fellow of the

(FRPS), and received the

's Colin Ford Award, given in recognition of a major contribution to photographic history, in 2009. He was a co-founder of the independent arts organisation GRAIN, which aims to support and develop artists working in photography. James died on 11 March 2018, aged 60, after suffering from a liver condition. He was survived by his wife and two children. For some years, he had been researching George Shaw, the first photographer to operate in Birmingham. His paper on Shaw was published posthumously, in the Royal Photographic Society journal ''Photo-Historian''.

Publications

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References

External links

Profile
at the

Photography and the Archive Research Centre Photography and the Archive Research Centre (PARC) is an organisation in London that commissions new research into photography and culture, curates and produces exhibitions and publications, organises seminars, study days, symposia and conference ...

Interview with James
2013
Memorial blog post by the Library of Birmingham Archives team
2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Pete 1958 births 2018 deaths British curators People from Birmingham, West Midlands British archivists Photography curators Fellows of the Royal Photographic Society