James Graham
James Graham (1806–1869) was a Scottish photographer who took some of the earliest images of the Holy Land, where he was sent as lay secretary for the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews. Graham, a former director of a Glasgow bank, having learnt the basics of photography, arrived in Jerusalem in December 1853 and stayed there for two-and-a-half years, taking lodgings in a tower on the Mount of Olives. While there he was visited by artists including Thomas Seddon and William Holman Hunt, both of whom seem to have used his photographs as reference material for their paintings.
James Graham
- Name
- James Graham
- Born
- 1806
- Died
- 1869
- Known for
- Photographs of Jerusalem
- Nationality
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- Occupation
- photographer
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
James Graham (1806–1869) was a Scottish photographer who took some of the earliest images of the Holy Land, where he was sent as lay secretary for the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews. Graham, a former director of a Glasgow bank, having learnt the basics of photography, arrived in Jerusalem in December 1853 and stayed there for two-and-a-half years, taking lodgings in a tower on the Mount of Olives. While there he was visited by artists including Thomas Seddon and William Holman Hunt, both of whom seem to have used his photographs as reference material for their paintings.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for James Graham. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q6134828
In this article
Biography
Biography
When he exhibited photographs, he would often write an appropriate quotation from the Bible on the mount. During his time in Jerusalem he taught photography to the Russian-born Mendel John Diness, who had been converted from Judaism, and baptised in 1849 by the British consul James Finn, as found in "Palestine and Egypt Under the Ottomans" By Hisham Khatib. He was the author of a pamphlet called Jerusalem; its Missions, Schools, Converts etc. Under Bishop Gobat published in London in 1858.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — James Graham • Born — 1806 • Died — 1869 • Known for — Photographs of Jerusalem
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1806
James Graham was born on 1 January 1806.
1869
James Graham died on 1 January 1869.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Google books PJ8DHBay4_EC Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-century Photography
- 2.Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-century Photography, Volume 1 edited by John Hannavy p. 605 (https://books.google.com/books?id=PJ8DHBay4_EC&pg=PA605)
- 3."Picturing Jerusalem, James Graham and Mendel Diness, photographers", ed. Nissan N. Perez, Israel Museum, 2007, .
- 4.Staley and Newell 2004, p.117
- 5.Hisham, Khatib. Palestine and Egypt Under the Ottomans: Paintings, Books, Photographs, Maps and Manuscripts. I.B. Taurus. 233. 2003. 9781860648885.
- 6.Graham, James. Jerusalem; its Missions, Schools, Converts etc. sender Bishop Gobat. 1858.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- The Tate Gallery. Pre-Rapaelite Vision:Truth to Nature. 2004.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
General reference
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
James Graham is recorded as a citizen of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Recorded with the occupation photographer.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Photography
11,392 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- James E. PurdyPhotographer
- James Edward HanauerPhotographer
- James EmmermanPhotographer
- James George ScottPhotographer
- James H. EvansPhotographer
- James Hazen HydePhotographer
- James HerbertPhotographer
- James Howard BrownePhotographer
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by James Graham?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.