Julian trained as a photographer at the London College of Printing (LCP) where he later went on to become LCP's Director of Photography.  He has guided some of the UK’s leading photographers including Tom Hunter, Dan Tobin Smith, Dan Holdsworth, Ed Reeve, Poppy de Villeneuve, and Bettina von Zwehl.  In 2003, he became Dean of Media at University of the Arts London (UAL) leading the School for eight years, creating a period of reputation building, innovation, and growth. The School rose to become acknowledged as the top provider of practice-based media education and research in the United Kingdom. 

 

In 2007, Julian was instrumental in bringing the Stanley Kubrick Archive to UAL with the generous support of the Kubrick family and Warner Bros (Los Angeles).  To support the acquisition, Julian commenced a connected research project on the Vietnam War - bringing together the archives of war photojournalist Phillip Jones-Griffiths, the Cold War investigative journalism of Phillip Knightley, and the production materials for Kubrick's Vietnam war film  'Full Metal Jacket'.

 

In 2011, Julian joined Falmouth University as Head of Media where he worked with colleagues to establish the Falmouth Press and the UK's first in-house student-managed photo agency. In 2015, he took up a professorial position at Kingston School of Art to create a new Department of Film & Photography - to build a research base for the still and the moving image and strike-up meaningful relationships with the industry.  With these tasks completed, Julian moved on from Kingston University in 2021.

 

Currently, Julian is a writer for Taschen, a Company Director at Impressions Gallery,  a Nominator for Prix Pictet Photography Prize, and sits on the Advisory Board of the Rory Peck Trust - the only organisation dedicated to the support, welfare, and safety of freelance film & photography newsgatherers around the world.

 

Julian works between London and Valencia.