David and Chiabella James talk all things unit still photography.

This one has taken me well over a year to pull together and I promise you it's a must watch for anyone interested in Photography!

David and Chiabella James take us through their lives on film sets as Unit still photographers.
David is one of the original Unit photographer trail blazers and his daughter Chiabella has followed in his footsteps.

  / dgjphoto  
http://www.djphotoinc.com/
  / cbj_photo  
http://www.chiabellajames.com/

A little about David and Chiabella:

David.
Born and educated in the UK, David knew from age 9 he wanted to be a photographer. He began in the Stills Department at MGM studios in the UK, rapidly making the transition to shooting on set, forging a career as a world-renowned stills and specialist photographer. The genres of Action, War, Sci-Fi, and Musicals are personal favorites and have resulted in multi award-winning images. David's career includes 11 collaborations to-date with Steven Spielberg, numerous musicals ranging from Jesus Christ Superstar, Chicago, Nine, Rock of Ages and Dreamgirls... Science Fiction includes Oblivion and Edge of Tomorrow, starring Tom Cruise with whom he has collaborated on 15 projects to date, plus the famed photograph of Tom atop the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai. Renowned projects include Star Wars - The Force Awakens, Star Wars VIII, , Jack Reacher, Horse Soldiers and Mission Impossible - Fallout.

David relocated to U.S A, retaining dual citizenship. Based in Los Angeles, he works worldwide on feature, television, marketing/advertising and publicity projects. He is the winner of numerous accolades and awards including 2006 ICG/Publicists Guild Award for Excellence in Unit Stills Photography and the 2011 S.O.C. Lifetime Achievement Award for Still Photography. David James is also the author of thirteen photography books including the Indiana Jones and The Crystal Skull Photo Journal and the Mission Impossible- Ghost Protocol, A Shooting Diary. His work is exhibited in galleries, international collections and published around the globe, as well as in the archives of the Academy's Margaret Herrick Library, and the Professional Photographers of America. David is a founding member and also past president of the Society of Motion Picture Stills Photographers (SMPSP). David is mentor for a new generation of still photographers ,also participating in Photography Symposiums ,Conferences, Media Workshops and Festivals worldwide as a sought after speaker.


Chiabella.
Born in London and raised between England and the United States, Chiabella lives and works in both countries. As the daughter of a unit stills photographer, she grew up learning the craft under his guidance, spending summers working with him on film sets like Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers and Minority Report. While studying at the University of California, Santa Barbara, she continued to work in photography by assisting her father on features like Memoirs of a Geishaand Dreamgirls, but chose to explore other avenues of film production and spent the next 10 years working in production both on set and at the studio level. During that time she kept her hands on the camera and spent time as the photographer for a dance company in Los Angeles where she found her passion for capturing 'action' and would continue to work with her father on a part time basis and events like The Academy Awards. Some of her fine art photography was featured as a finalist in the Art Takes Times Square exhibition in 2012.
A series of events led Chiabella back to London and returned her to stills photography alongside her father on Star Wars Episode 7. The two worked together for the next few years as a unique on set stills duo (The Force Awakens, Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, Jack Reacher Never Go Back, and Mission Impossible Fallout).
Chiabella's varied portfolio has been published in major international outlets like Vanity Fair and Vogue and she was recently featured as a part of ICG magazine's unit stills gallery.
Having recently completed photography on the upcoming films Dune and King Richard, Chiabella is currently in production on The Flash while also shooting editorials and pursuing her own photographic series' including a current project inspired by the Covid 19 pandemic and cultural unrest it brought to surface in the last year.