by Brent Robillard; photography by James Cornish
“Photography is still the medium I love the most,” Cornish says. “It’s part of who I am.”
Long before James Cornish was light-painting Porsches with surgical precision or stacking layers in Photoshop, he was a kid mesmerized by the mechanics of a Pentax ME. The metallic clatter of film being loaded, the satisfying click of a shutter, the rainbow abyss of coated glass lenses—all of it combined into a symphony of tactile magic that left a lifelong impression.
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“There was something as a kid in the ’80s, watching my father load his old Pentax ME with fresh film—it was the
coolest thing,” he recalls. “The solid snap of the film door, the feel of pulling the winder—it never disappointed a kid’s ASMR.”
That fascination turned to obsession in high school when a music teacher unlocked a forgotten darkroom next
to his classroom. What was once storage space became a sanctuary for Cornish. He found himself transfixed
by the alchemy of development trays and developer chemicals—how plain white paper could, with time and
precision, reveal emotion and narrative in black and white.
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He later studied graphic design at Dawson College in Montreal, where photography was more than a module—it became a dual passion. “We learned how to direct photography, use light, and bring images to life. One of my teachers, Gunter, was amazing. He even let me use the darkroom after hours—I printed my own photos and
Christmas cards for years.”
While his career took shape in product and footwear design—something he continues to this day—it was photography that quietly threaded its way through every chapter. He was the one behind the lens for company catalogues, the one styling shots of shoes he’d designed, the one editing spreads for social media before content creation had a name.
Though best known for his Porsche images, Cornish has spent over two decades designing footwear.
“I was the photographer for the shoes I designed. I did the catalogues, the branding, the social—photography was embedded
in everything I did.”
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Then came Urban Outlaw, the viral documentary by Toronto filmmaker Tamir Moscovici about Magnus Walker. His father sent him the link and the rest was pure combustion. “That was an eye-opener, an ah-ha moment. Seeing how raw an artist Magnus is—and how his passion for Porsche brought people together —that inspired me to do more. Through Instagram I started meeting owners, photographing events, and even contributing to magazines.”
One such connection led to a surreal moment in New York, when Cornish met Walker in person and exchanged signed posters. Later, Porsche themselves reached out to license one of his images for their Christophorus magazine, a milestone he still speaks about with visible disbelief.
His photographs are composed with deliberation. He shoots in full manual, often using a Zeiss 50mm ZF.2 on his
Nikon Z6. His approach is tactile and intimate—he slows down, composes carefully, even focuses manually.
Postproduction begins in Lightroom and ends in Photoshop, where he’ll stack layers, colour correct, and catalogue his work by date, car, and owner.
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But perhaps his most distinctive technique is light painting.
“You’re basically using a light stick like a paintbrush,” Cornish explains. “I shoot five or six exposures of different parts of the car, then layer them together. You control every highlight, every shadow. It’s painstaking, but when it works, the result is seamless and sharp.”
Outside Christophorus, his work has been published in Autostrada, Flat 6 Magazine, and The Pitstop Magazine. He’s even contributed retouching for two magazine covers. Through his design label, FLT6DSGN, he also sells Porsche-inspired posters to collectors across Europe, Canada, and the U.S.
Cornish’s light painting technique involves taking multiple long exposures (20–30 seconds) while manually illuminating specific areas of a car with an LED wand. The images are stacked in Photoshop to create a final composite with perfect control over shadows and highlights.
“You get details in the dark and the highlights—it’s like sculpting with light.”
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Cornish’s love of the brand began in childhood, nurtured by his father’s collection of toy cars, brochures, and posters.
“These were my toys and storybooks as a young lad. He even brought home brochures from the dealership—those are sacred to
me.”
For Cornish, it’s all part of the same visual language—a way of connecting history, machinery, and emotion through light and time.
“Photography is still the medium I love the most,” he says. “It’s part of who I am.”
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About the author
Brent Robillard is a writer, educator, craftsman, and watch enthusiast. He is the author of four novels. You can follow him on Instagram.
This article was originally published in Volume 1, Number 2 of The Calibrated Wrist.
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The light painting technique is something I just don’t quite understand, but my God is it beautiful