David James was born and educated in England. He knew from the age of 9 (after watching MGM film outside his school) that his destiny was to be a movie still photographer. At the age of 16, his career started in the Still Photography Department at MGM Studios in London.

The subjects he favors most are Action, War, Sci-Fi and Musicals, resulting in multi-award winning images.

His career includes numerous collaborations with Steven Spielberg - ‘Saving Private Ryan’, ‘Minority Report’, ‘Schindler’s List’, ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’.

Musicals include 'Jesus Christ Superstar’, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, ‘Chicago’, ‘Nine’, ‘Rock of Ages’, and ‘Dream Girls’.

Sci-Fi favorites are - “Star Wars The Force Awakens’, ‘Oblivion’ and ‘Edge of Tomorrow’, starring Tom Cruise with whom he has collaborated on 15 projects, including the iconic image of Tom atop the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai.

His work has been published in many books, the first  ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and most recently, Taschen Books ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’. 

He is the Photographer and Author of two books, ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull a Shooting Diary’ and ‘Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol Shooting Diary’.

His work has been exhibited in galleries and numerous international collections around the world.

He won the 2006 Publicist Guild Award for Excellence in Still Photography and was honored with the 2011 SOC Lifetime Achievement Award.

 David is a founding member and past president of the Society of Motion Picture Still Photographers (smpsp).

He is now mentoring a new generation of Still Photographers and participating in Photography Symposiums, Conferences, Media Workshops and Festivals worldwide.