Charlie Hamilton James

Charlie Hamilton James (born c. 1974) is an English photographer, television cameraman and presenter, specialising in wildlife subjects.^[1] He started his career at 16, working on David Attenborough’s The Trials of Life. His work has since been commissioned by National Geographic Magazine, the BBC's Springwatch/Autumnwatch shows and The Natural World^[1] and he now works primarily with his wife, Philippa Forrester.

Their first collaboration, made when he was just 26, was My Halcyon River. Following its success, in 2003 they set up a production company, Halcyon Media, which specialises in wildlife productions. In 2007, they co-produced An Otter in the Family, a short documentary series about the adoption of an otter cub called Grace and their attempts to raise her as a wild animal in order to be released into the wild.^[2] They also produced the four-part Halcyon River Diaries, the first episode of which was broadcast on 16 May 2010 on BBC One. The series follows the wildlife found near their home. An additional episode was shown at Christmas 2010.

The couple live in the West Country and have three sons. All three have appeared in the couple's television programmes. The couple's meeting, and the arrival of their first son, Fred, in 2000, is described in her book The River.

During the week of 30 May – 3 June 2011, Hamilton James presented a segment, comprising pre-recorded video and live commentary to camera, on the reintroduction of beavers to the United Kingdom, as part of the BBC's Springwatch. In June 2014 the TV series I Bought a Rainforest, about his £6,000 purchase of 100 acres of Peruvian rain forest, was screened by the BBC.^[3]

Awards

He was Wildlife Cameraman of the Year's 'Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 91/92'^[1] and was nominated in three categories for Wildlife Cameraman of the Year in 2007.^[1] He is also a Royal Television Society medal winner for cinematography.^[1]

Bibliography

• Kingfishers, Colin Baxter Photography,1995, ISBN 978-1-900455-25-1
• The Matewix, Harper Collins, 2005 (a satirical look at The Matrix film trilogy) ISBN 978-0-00-717690-8
• Kingfisher: Tales from the Halcyon River, Evans Mitchell Books, 2009, ISBN 978-1-901268-38-6
• Halcyon River Diaries (with Philippa Forrester), Preface Publishing, 2010 ISBN 978-1-84809-225-9

DVDs

Some of Hamilton James' programmes are available commercially:

• Natural World - On the Trail of Tarka, BBC^[4]
• Halcyon River Diaries^[5]

References

External links

• Official website
• Charlie Hamilton James on Twitter
  
• Charlie Hamilton James at the Internet Movie Database
• Charlie Hamilton James at Hilary Knight Management
• Halcyon Media
• Halcyon River Diaries
• Digital Splash Event