Photographer, Documentary Storyteller

Photographer and documentary storyteller James Whitlow Delano has called Tokyo home for more than three decades while pursuing long-term projects focused on the environment, human rights, and Indigenous cultures. Through his work, he has documented the complex relationships between people, place, and environmental change, producing visual stories that resonate across cultures and borders.

James has traveled extensively throughout Japan, photographing landscapes, communities, and cultural traditions from Kyoto and the renowned Shikoku pilgrimage route to the northern wilderness of Hokkaido and beyond. Since 2011, he has documented the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima nuclear disaster. This long-term work culminated in his fourth monograph, Black Tsunami: Japan 2011, and included a widely recognised photography series on the 1.5 million sacks of radioactive soil stored across Fukushima Prefecture, which was featured by National Geographic.

In recent years, his work for National Geographic has also focused on documentary projects along the United States–Mexico border, exploring issues of migration, identity, and human resilience. His photography is characterised by a commitment to long-form storytelling and an ability to connect global issues with deeply personal narratives.

In 2015, James founded the @EverydayClimateChange Instagram feed, a collaborative initiative that brings together photographers from around the world to document the impacts of climate change across all seven continents. The project has become a powerful platform for visual storytelling and public engagement on environmental issues.

James is the author of four monograph photo books, and his long-term projects have been exhibited internationally. He is a grantee of the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, and his award-winning investigative and documentary work has appeared in leading publications, including National Geographic, National Geographic Traveler, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The New Yorker, and Foreign Policy.

Through photography and storytelling, James continues to explore the human dimensions of environmental and social change, creating work that informs, challenges, and inspires audiences around the world.