Born in 1867, Emma Louisa Turner became one of the most respected photographers and ornithologists of her time. With no background in either photography or natural history, she perfected her craft in both spheres in a remarkably short time, spending long days in the field in often uncomfortable conditions as she strove to photograph birds at their nests, including rare and shy species never photographed before. Much of her time was spent at Hickling in Norfolk, where she lived on a houseboat and, in 1911, rediscovered the Bittern as a British breeding bird with local gamekeeper, Jim Vincent. She published several lyrical accounts of her experiences, illustrated with her own photographs, and became a highly regarded figure in what was an overwhelmingly male world before tragically losing her sight and having to give up her great passions of photography and birdwatching.

March 2020 saw the publication of James’s book (co-authored with Jeremy Greenwood) on Turner and her fascinating life and achievements. Click here to buy a copy. Click here for a feature written about Turner and her fellow Norfolk naturalist, the Reverend Maurice Bird, in the Eastern Daily Press and here for an article written by James for Countryfile magazine.

James also appeared in a BBC Radio 4 Nature programme on Emma Turner entitled Emma Turner, a life in the reeds – click here for more information and to listen to it.