Born in St. Asaph, Wales, James studied Modern History at Wellington College and Oxford University before immigrating to Canada. Active as a photographer since 1970, James is well known for his photographs of parks and gardens as well as his photographic essays embracing the picturesque as it relates to the European photographic tradition. His fascination with the bucolic and utopian landscape in particular has informed his creative oeuvre. The National Gallery of Canada organized a retrospective of James' photographs titled Utopia/Dystopia: The Photographs of Geoffrey James, which ran from May to September, 2008.