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Pete James (1958-2018) was a significant figure in British photography, who studied for an MA in History of Art and Design at ̽»¨Ö±²¥ (1986-1989). Between 1989 and 2015, he was the Curator of Photography Collections at the Library of ̽»¨Ö±²¥, establishing an unrivalled collection of British photography, ranging from historical photographs by Sir Benjamin Stone to entire archives of work by renowned photographers such as Daniel Meadows, Martin Parr, Brian Griffin, John Myers, Anna Fox, Vanley Burke, and Val Williams.Ìý

A selection of photography journals from the Pete James Collection includingÌýThe Photo HistorianÌýandÌý°ä²¹³¾±ð°ù²¹

Pete workedÌý on many other initiatives over the years, including chairing the Committee of National Photography Collections; co-founding the Photography Collections Network; co-founding and co-directing GRAIN, the photographic hub and network for the West Midlands; supporting projects such asÌý, Rhubarb Rhubarb, and FORMAT Festival; lecturing and working with many academic institutions; writing books and curating exhibitions at galleries such as the V&A, the National Portrait Gallery, Somerset House, ̽»¨Ö±²¥ Museum and Art Gallery, Ikon Gallery, and the Library of ̽»¨Ö±²¥. Most recently, he worked with Mat Collishaw on his exhibitionÌýThis used virtual reality technology to re-stage one of the earliest exhibitions of photography – William Henry Fox Talbot’s presentation of photographic prints at King Edward’s School, ̽»¨Ö±²¥, which toured Somerset House, ̽»¨Ö±²¥ Museum and Art Gallery, the Fox Talbot Museum in Lacock, Wiltshire, and the National Science and Media Museum, Bradford, in 2017-2018.

The collection includes his personal library of books relating to the history of photography, catalogues of exhibitions by contemporary photographers, and periodicals on photography, both historical and contemporary. There are also some volumes on other subjects, notably art history and the history of ̽»¨Ö±²¥. The collection also contains his research papers, which focus on the history of early photography in ̽»¨Ö±²¥ in the nineteenth century.Ìý