Jim Grover is a social-documentary photographer based in Clapham, South London. His particular passion is using images to tell stories…especially to celebrate daily life, people, local communities and traditions…and to make the unseen seen.
Jim's images have appeared in numerous publications and online including The Times; The Sunday Times; The Observer; the BBC (TV, on-line, radio); The Guardian; The Daily Telegraph; The British Journal of Photography; Black + White Photography; Leica Forum; Amateur Photographer, and many others.
His images have been recognized in various competitions including The Sony World Photography Awards, and the Landscape Photographer of the Year Awards. In 2015 he won the ‘Faith Through a Lens’ competition; the judging panel was chaired by the internationally renowned photographer Sir Don McCullin CBE.
His photo-stories have been exhibited in 12 major solo exhibitions since 2016 and all have received extensive media coverage. ‘Windrush: Portrait of a Generation’, received extensive national media coverage (‘One of 2018’s must see shows…’) and attracted 13,000 visitors. The exhibition has been re-exhibited four times and enjoyed by well over 20,000 visitors. This followed his 2016 solo exhibition, Of Things Not Seen also exhibited in the Oxo Gallery and at the 2017 Edinburgh Festival, and his 2017 solo exhibition, ‘48 Hours On Clapham High Street’.
In May 2019 Jim exhibited, ‘Here Am I’, in the Oxo Gallery. 8 months in the making, it was commissioned to celebrate the 25th anniversary, in 2019, of the ordination of women in the Church of England. It attracted 7,800 visitors over its 12 day run, and national media coverage including by the BBC, The Guardian, and The Times. Jim’s 2020 exhibition, ‘Covid Tales from Tom’s Bench’, here, was featured in The Guardian (including the double-page ‘Eyewitness’ feature in the newspaper).
In 2022, Jim exhibited ‘Behind the Shop Facade: The Life of Maurice Dorfman’ The exhibition, and accompanying book, told the story of the life of Maurice Dorfman, the grandson of Jewish emigres, who spent 60 years serving the local community from his haberdashery shop, Jeannette Fashions, on Clapham High Street, until his death in 2020 aged 87. The story was featured by the BBC and The Guardian, amongst many others.
In 2023 Jim exhibited Windrush: A Voyage through the Generations, and in 2024 he exhibited ‘Behind the Blue Doors’, a photo-story that celebrated the 200th anniversary of an almshouse in the heart of Brixton. The exhibition ran for 10 weeks in the exhibition gallery in the new Lambeth Archives in Brixton.
Jim teaches at Leica Akademie UK and is a member of the V&A Museum’s Photographs Acquisition Group. He is the official photographer of the College of Arms in London.
To commission Jim please use the Contact form to get in touch.
2026 News
Drawn into your Presence. This new photography exhibition has been created by Jim Grover as part of St James’ Church, Clapham, participation in the national Heritage Open Days festival, and Lambeth History Month. September 16th-October 18th, 2026. More details to follow.