Biography

James Whitlow Delano, b. 1960, is an American-born reportage photographer based in Tokyo, Japan, and one of today’s foremost photographers of Asia.  Delano's substantial oeuvre of photography in Asia, characterized by his ethereal use of vignette and partial defocus, captures quiet subjects immersed in moments of passage.

His work has appeared worldwide in numerous magazines and photo festivals, from Visa Pour L’Image to Rencontres D’Arles to Noorderlicht, and has been awarded internationally, including the Alfred Eisenstadt Award (from Columbia University and LIFE magazine), Leica’s Oskar Barnack, Picture of the Year International, NPPA, and PDN, among many others.  James Whitlow Delano is a grantee of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.  His series Empire was the first ever one-person show at La Triennale di Milano Fine Arts Museum.  His book “Black Tsunami: Japan 2011," published by FotoEvidence, received a 2012 PX3 Award. 

SELECT COLLECTIONS
La Triennale di Milano Fine Arts Museum, Milano, Italy
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Museo di Fotografia Contemporanea, Milano, Italy
Museum of Photographic Arts, Dubois Library, San Diego, CA
Noorderlicht Photography Festival, Groningen, Netherlands
Leica Camera, Permanent Leica Book Archive, Solms, Germany 

Boy playing in courtyard, Beijing, China, 1994 - Empire | James Whitlow Delano Documentary Fine ArtEmpire | James Whitlow Delano Documentary Fine Art

Boy playing in courtyard, Beijing, China, 1994
Archival Pigment Print
13 x 18.75 in. | 19.75 x 23.5 in
​Ed. of 25

Collecting lake grass on Lake Taihu, Jiangsu Province, China, 1994 - Empire | James Whitlow Delano Documentary Fine Art

Collecting lake grass on Lake Taihu, Jiangsu Province, China, 1994
Archival Pigment Print
13 x 18.75 in. | 19.75 x 23.5 in
​Ed. of 25

Lunch break, Shanghai, China, 1995 - Empire | James Whitlow Delano Documentary Fine Art

Lunch break, Shanghai, China, 1995
Archival Pigment Print
13 x 18.75 in. | 19.75 x 23.5 in
​Ed. of 25

Veiled infant, Gansu Province, China, 1994 - Empire | James Whitlow Delano Documentary Fine Art

Veiled infant, Gansu Province, China, 1994
Archival Pigment Print
13 x 18.75 in. | 19.75 x 23.5 in
​Ed. of 25

Bamboo bridge, Guangdong Province, China, 1999 - Empire | James Whitlow Delano Documentary Fine Art

Bamboo bridge, Guangdong Province, China, 1999
Archival Pigment Print
13 x 18.75 in. | 19.75 x 23.5 in
Ed. of 25

Peasants crowding the rails of a river steamer - Empire | James Whitlow Delano Documentary Fine Art

Peasants crowding the rails of a river steamer,
Three Gorges, Yangtze River, China, 1997
Archival Pigment Print
13 x 18.75 in. | 19.75 x 23.5 in
​Ed. of 25

Bai junk on Lake Erhai, Yunnan Province, China, 1997 - Empire | James Whitlow Delano Documentary Fine Art

Bai junk on Lake Erhai, Yunnan Province, China, 1997
Archival Pigment Print
13 x 18.75 in. | 19.75 x 23.5 in
​Ed. of 25

Dong twins, Zhaoxing, Guizhou, China, 1999 - Empire | James Whitlow Delano Documentary Fine Art

Dong twins, Zhaoxing, Guizhou, China, 1999
Archival Pigment Print
13 x 18.75 in. | 19.75 x 23.5 in
​Ed. of 25

Dong people carrying the rice harvest down from the terraced fields - Empire | James Whitlow Delano Documentary Fine Art

Dong people carrying the rice harvest down from the terraced fields,
Zhaoxing, Guizhou Province, China, 1999
Archival Pigment Print
13 x 18.75 in. | 19.75 x 23.5 in
​Ed. of 25

Kyrgyz herdsman watched his camels from outside his yurt - Empire | James Whitlow Delano Documentary Fine Art

Kyrgyz herdsman watched his camels from outside his yurt,
beside Karakuli Lake, Pamir Mountains, Chinese Turkestan, 2002
Archival Pigment Print
13 x 18.75 in. | 19.75 x 23.5 in
​Ed. of 25

Pudong rises above the Bund, Shanghai, China, 2000 - Empire | James Whitlow Delano Documentary Fine Art

Pudong rises above the Bund, Shanghai, China, 2000
Archival Pigment Print
13 x 18.75 in. | 19.75 x 23.5 in
​Ed. of 25

Suspicious glance from a young theatrical performer at the stage door - Empire | James Whitlow Delano Documentary Fine Art

Suspicious glance from a young theatrical performer at
the stage door, Beijing, China, 2001
Archival Pigment Print
13 x 18.75 in. | 19.75 x 23.5 in
​Ed. of 25

Unloading coal from a canal barge - Empire | James Whitlow Delano Documentary Fine Art

Unloading coal from a canal barge,
Near Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, 1996
Archival Pigment Print
13 x 18.75 in. | 19.75 x 23.5 in
​Ed. of 25

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