James Houston
About
BODY BEAUTY CELEBRITY FASHION ADVERTISING BOOKS
ABOUT SHOW REEL COMPANY REEL
Photographer | Director | Activist
In his photography, James Houston creates a dialogue between the beauty of the human body and the changing forms of nature. Color and shapes meet in an almost sensorial experience. you can feel the heat and the touch just from looking at the images.” – Stefano Tonchi, Editor in Chief, W Magazine
James Houston grew up in the Australian outback where he developed a love for nature and the great outdoors. He bought his first camera in the early 80’s while modeling in Tokyo. James spent the following five years traveling in Europe building his photography portfolio before heading back to Australia where he started shooting cover and fashion stories for Australian Vogue and Oyster Magazine, among others.
In 1999, after several commissioned shoots for Interview Magazine, James moved to New York, where he shot numerous Advertising campaigns for international clients such as L'Oreal Paris, GAP, Donna Karan, Hugo Boss and Givenchy. His eye for beauty has also made James popular with celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Alba, Emma Watson, and Hugh Jackman. James has exhibited his work extensively in Australia, London, America and Asia.
As an activist James has managed to raise millions of dollars for various charities worldwide. Five award winning international books have been published on his work, including MOVE (PowerHouse Books), which was created to benefit various HIV/AIDS charities and raised close to US$500,000. The book project, titled MOVE FOR AIDS was launched in 2006 with the support of Elton John, Hugh Jackman and Baz Luhrmann.
While working on MOVE FOR AIDS, Houston was shocked to learn about American attitudes towards adolescent sexuality and the impact it has on U.S. teens. This discovery inspired Houston to raise over 1 million dollars to fund his first feature documentary titled, LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX. The Award-winning film takes a revealing look at how American attitudes towards adolescent sexuality affect today’s teenagers.
Spending four years directing this film inspired his transition into directing video for his commercial clients who he was working for as a photographer.
James lives with his husband and daughter between Los Angeles and New York.