James Strachan is a photographer and writer. He has photographed illustrated travel books and both photographed and written cover features regularly for the Sunday Times Travel section as well as articles for How To Spend It magazine and The Observer. Since his first photographic book on Madrid in 1990 his images of Europe, Central America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia have appeared in books, magazines, newspapers and advertising campaigns across the world. In 1991 he became an Associate Photographer of Getty Images and his work has also since been sold through Robert Harding World Imagery. 

 

After studying English and economics at Cambridge and documentary film production at the City Lit in London, James became, in his first career, Merrill Lynch’s youngest Managing Director and looked after UK and Dutch investment banking clients before fulfilling his dream to go back to art college at the London College of Printing (now University of the Arts, London). He took distinctions in postgraduate photography and postgraduate journalism and is now an Honorary Fellow of UAL.

 

For almost 10 years he worked as a full time photographer and writer. Having been born deaf he then took the opportunity to run and turn around the RNID, the UK’s major charity for deaf and hearing impaired people, doubling its size and leading it to being Charity of the Year. He was subsequently asked by Government to be Chairman of the Audit Commission, the UK’s public sector auditor and spending watchdog. A portfolio career followed on Boards ranging from the Bank of England to Save the Children and Somerset House, of businesses like Legal & General Group plc, Welsh Water and Care UK plc and of regulators in finance (FSA) and energy (Ofgem). He was also a Senior Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics. 

 

He has now returned full time to his true love, photography; hearing the world, as Oliver Sacks once said, through his eyes.

​

​

​