It’s been a particularly cold start to the year in Quebec. The extreme weather is challenging on the hands when working with the cameras, but it’s provided some very beautiful moments of winter light. This image was made last week on behalf of Montreal architecture studio Pelletier de Fontenay, who’ve commissioned James to make a winter series at Résidence Weisbord in the Laurentians, north of the city.
Photography Award
James is pleased to share news of receiving this year's Canadian Architect Photo Award of Excellence. The award is announced annually in December by Canadian Architect magazine, Canada’s national magazine of record for architecture.
The photograph shows the El-Aleph Guesthouse, designed by MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects. The building is a 28 foot cube clad in copper shingle, set on a remote and wild rocky outcrop on Nova Scotia's southern shore. It draws on the language, craft and construction techniques of Nova Scotia's vernacular architecture - fish sheds, boat houses and others - that have been a constant muse for the MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple studio.
Rammed Earth House
This image is from a new series made on behalf of London's Tuckey Design Studio to record Rammed Earth House in Wiltshire, UK. The commission was completed last summer at an unusual moment in the life of this project before the house was lived in: The resulting photographs are mainly concerned with light and materiality.
Set on a former brickworks, the house has thick walls formed from layered rammed earth laid without joints. Inside, finishes of clay plaster, limestone, walnut, copper and oak sit alongside the rammed earth walls.
The building was a finalist in this year's House of the Year from the Architectural Review, and has recently won a Wallpaper* magazine design award for Best Use of Material.
Passage to Greenland
Australia's Financial Review magazine and The Sydney Morning Herald commissioned James over the summer to travel by boat from Toronto, Canada to Nuuk in Greenland, documenting the journey in photographs.
The 14-day voyage provided rare time for reflection, and the chance to experience the north Atlantic and the Sea of Labrador in all its vastness. It also offered glimpses of Greenland's enchanting landscapes and architecture, as well as opportunity to meet and talk with some of the people who live there - providing thought-provoking insight into these times of tension and uncertainty over the island's future.
New commission: Centre Sanaaq
James has collaborated with Montreal’s Pelletier de Fontenay on Centre Sanaaq, an innovative new community centre in the city’s west end.
The centre has been developed in a ground-breaking public-private partnership between the city of Montreal and a developer, creating a rare and beautifully created public hub at the foot of two large new residential towers. It includes a library, art gallery and performance space as well as music recording studio and a café.
new commission: Anishnawbe Health
James has been commissioned by Stantec to photograph a new health centre designed and built for Toronto’s indigenous community.
The Anishnawbe Health Centre is located in the city’s West Don Lands and is the first of its kind in Canada - bringing together a mixture of traditional indigenous healing and western medicine.
The building’s exterior curves and folds - taking inspiration from traditional indigenous woven shawls.
new commission: Le Christin
James has been commissioned by Montreal’s celebrated Atelier Big City to photograph Le Christin, a new housing project in the city.
Knitted into a tight site, this innovative new building has been designed in collaboration with the Société d’Habitation et Développement de Montréal & Accueil bonneau to accommodate vulnerable people at risk of homelessness in central Montreal.
Photo Award of Excellence
James is thrilled to share news of receiving the 2024 Canadian Architect Photo Award of Excellence. The prestigious prize is awarded once a year by Canadian Architect magazine, Canada’s national magazine of record for architecture.
The photogaph shows the interior of École du Zénith designed by Montreal’s Pelletier de Fontenay. Located at the foot of Mount Shefford in Québec, the school is part of an experimental collection curated by Lab-École, an initiative launched in 2019 to review and explore the way primary schools are designed in Quebec.
new commission: La Résidence Sutton
James has worked with Montréal’s Pelletier de Fontenay to record the studio’s latest completed project, a new family house located in southern Québec.
new commission: Balnea pool house
James has been commissioned by MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Archtiects and Balnea Spa to photograph a new pool-house overlooking Lake Gale in the hills around Bromont, near Montreal.
Rammed Earth House
Tuckey Design Studio has commissioned James to record the completion of its highly anticipated Rammed Earth House - a pioneering new home in Wiltshire using one of the most extensive applications of the rammed earth building method ever undertaken in the UK.
Cooke Fawcett Architects: Quidhampton Mill
James is thrilled to have collaborated for the first time with the UK’s Cooke Fawcett Architects. The young British studio has commissioned James to make a series of pictures of Quidhampton Mill, an artists’ studio and workshop in the setting of 17th century listed water mill, which the architects have also remodelled.
New commission: École du Zénith
Canada’s Pelletier de Fontenay has commissioned James to photograph an innovative new primary school near Montreal.
École du Zénith is the latest in a series of new schools curated by Lab École - an experimental architecture program launched in 2019 to review the way primary schools are designed and built in Quebec.
new commission: The Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace
James has been commissioned to make a series of new photographs showing The Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace. The new photographs are part of an ongoing collaboration to record Britain’s royal palaces on behalf of the curatorial charitable trust Historic Royal Palaces.
new commission: 5468796 Architecture
5468796 Architecture has commissioned James to photograph Arthur Residence, a family home recently completed in the Canadian prairie city of Regina.
Canadian Architect Photo Award of Excellence
James is thrilled to share news of winning a 2023 Canadian Architect Photo Award of Excellence. The award was announced earlier this week by Canadian Architect, the national magazine of record for architects across Canada.
The picture was made at CAPO, a house overlooking the Saint Lawrence River in eastern Quebec, Canada, designed by Montreal's Atelier Carle.
new commission: MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects
MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects has commissioned James to photograph its latest residential project in Canada.
The cube shaped guest house is set on a remote rocky outcrop on Nova Scotia’s beautiful south shore - and forms part of an exciting larger project underway at the site.
New commission: Wilkinson Eyre Architects
The UK’s Wilkinson Eyre Architects has commissioned James to make a new series of images at CIBC Square in Toronto - a major mixed use development with two tall towers and a transport hub located in the heart of the city’s downtown core.
New commission: Jonathan Tuckey Design
James has recently completed a series of new projects in collaboration with Jonathan Tuckey Design.
These include Wool Hall, an exquisite remodelling of the former home and recording studio of artist Van Morrison.
RIBA National Award for Blackbird
Blackbird, a house James has photographed on behalf of British architects Nick Lyons and Hamish Herford, has won a 2023 RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) National Award.
The house sits in an area of outstanding natural beauty in the English Cotswolds.
