ABOUT
Philippa James has recently been awarded DYCP funding from the Arts Council of England to further develop her practice in 2025.
Her ongoing project, Once a Slag (formerly No Big Deal), was exhibited as a work-in-progress solo show and received critical acclaim from Dazed Magazine, who highlighted it as a must-see show in January 2023. Three images from the series were selected for the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2023 and exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery, with one image gracing the cover of the catalogue. This work has also been shortlisted for PhMuseum Women in Photography, exhibited in the Photo Vogue Festival, and won Portrait of Humanity.
Philippa’s practice began in 2020 with her first personal project, 100 Women of Oxford. The project gained recognition when exhibited during Photo Oxford, and was subsequently published as a photobook by The North Wall Art Gallery. Following this, Philippa was commissioned to collaborate with a local refugee women’s group, resulting in an exhibition at The Old Fire Station Art Gallery. One portrait from this project was featured in the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2022. More recently, she was commissioned by Oxford University to create portraits for their permanent collection, commemorating 50 years of women studying at Jesus College.
In addition to her photographic practice, Philippa runs Women and the Photobook, a traveling reading room and research project, and is an Associate Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Nov ’23 – Feb ’24 – Taylor Wessing Prize | Group Show at National Portrait Gallery, London
June ’23 – Portraits of Humanity | Group Show at Belfast Exposed, Ireland
April ’23 – About Then | Group Show at Stephen Lawrance Gallery, London
Jan ’23 – Girlhood | Solo Show at The North Wall Arts Gallery, Oxford
June ’22 – Selfies | Virtual Show at The RPS
Nov ’21 – Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 21 | Group Show at Cromwell Place, London
June ’21 – We Cannot Walk Alone | Solo Show at Arts at the Old Fire Station, Oxford
Oct ’20 – 100 Women of Oxford | Solo Show at The North Wall Art Gallery, Oxford
Mar ’20 – 100 Women of Oxford | Solo Show at Tap Social Movement, Oxford
SELECTED AWARDS
2023 – Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize
2023 – PhMuseum Women in Photography
2023 – Portraits of Humanity – Winner
SPEAKING
Oxford Brookes – Associate Lecturer
Museum of Oxford – Ethics in Photography
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art – Photography & Portraiture (alongside Rineke Dijstra & other exhibitions)
EDUCATION
2021 – 23 – MA Photography | Falmouth University (Distinction)
PRESS/PUBLICATIONS
Portraits of Humanity Vol 5 – Published by Hoxton Mini Press
100 Women of Oxford – Published by The North Wall Arts Centre
British Journal of Photography