Greg James Jr., veteran and longtime police and city photographer, dies at 78
He was rarely without his camera, and his engaging personality helped him put subjects at ease and make friends easily. Much of his work was in the field at crime scenes.
Greg James Jr., 78, of Philadelphia, a Navy veteran and longtime photographer for the Philadelphia Police Department and city administration, died Monday, Jan. 10, of acute hypoxia from a COVID-19 infection at Lankenau Medical Center.
Mr. James was a photographer at the Roundhouse police headquarters and City Hall for 30 years, taking mug shots and crime-scene photos for the police, and portraits and official pictures for city executives, visiting dignitaries, and legal proceedings.
In a career that started in 1968 and ended with his retirement in 1998, Mr. James photographed hundreds of crime scenes and often lamented to his wife, Karen, about the heartbreak he experienced on many assignments. Child abuse cases were among the most disturbing he had to document, she said.
Other assignments, his wife said, took Mr. James to locations at which his health could have been affected. In those cases, she said, he would sometimes change his clothes before entering the house and shower as soon as he got in.
Mr. James especially enjoyed working with subjects on their portraits. He liked to interact a bit and make them feel comfortable so they would look natural and relaxed in the picture.
“He was a technician,” his wife said. “He was interested in lighting and angles and the science of photography.”
Mr. James honed his photographic skills in the early 1960s by taking pictures of musical groups that visited Philadelphia and selling them to magazines and other publications. He told stories of snapping shots of the Jackson 5 long before they hit the big time and were touring on what was known as the Chitlin’ Circuit, which included stops at the Uptown Theater in North Philadelphia.
Born Feb. 9, 1943, at Temple University Hospital, Mr. James lived in North Philadelphia and graduated from Bishop Neumann High School in 1960. The Vietnam War was ongoing at the time, and he enlisted in the Navy in 1964.
Told he would receive training in photography during his service, he was instead sent to ordnance school, assigned to sail on the USS Bonn Homme Richard aircraft carrier, and helped prepare and load bombs onto airplanes in the Philippine Sea.
He was discharged in 1968 and found work in Philadelphia as a trolley driver. But his love for the camera inspired him to study as much as he could about photography in his spare time, and he got the job with the city after just six months.
“He was a self-taught unrecognized smart guy,” his wife said.
Mr. James met Karen Kitagawa at a Philly club, and they married in 1981. They had daughter Geremi and lived for years in Overbook Farms. Concerned that his neighborhood would suffer due to crime and economic degradation, he was active with the Overbrook Farms Club, Overbrook Farms East Residents Association, Overbrook Farms East Town Watch, and the Wynnefield Residents Association.
After he retired, Mr. James took his wife to work every day at Jefferson University Hospital and picked her up in the evenings. A people person who could converse on nearly any topic, he carried his camera practically everywhere and spent many of his mornings at the Reading Terminal Market snapping photos, chatting, and joking with merchants, diners, and anyone who would engage.
Later, he’d amble into a nearby bookstore and do the same with that crowd. Over the years, he made friends with, among others, cooks, judges, lawyers, professors, and other photographers.
“He was a chatterbox who would talk about the weather, his family, politics, and religion,” said his wife. “They may seem like delicate subjects, but he was kind and had a way of making people comfortable.”
At home, Mr. James liked to grow and care for plants, and he took special satisfaction in seeing a seed reach maturity. He followed the Eagles, liked to tinker with his cameras, and was a member of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors and the Bon Homme Richard Shipmates Association.
He also always found time to play with his granddaughter, Keiko. “He loved seeing her grow and thrive,” his wife said.
In addition to his wife, daughter, and granddaughter, Mr. James is survived by a sister and other relatives.
Services are to be held later.
Donations in his name may be made to Broad Street Ministry, P.O. Box 22656, Philadelphia, Pa. 19110.