Born in London and raised between England and the United States, Chiabella lives and works in both countries. As the daughter of a unit stills photographer, she grew up learning the craft under his guidance, spending summers working with him on film sets like Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers and Minority Report. While studying at the University of California, Santa Barbara, she continued to work in photography by assisting her father on features like Memoirs of a Geisha and Dreamgirls, but chose to explore other avenues of film production and spent the next 10 years working in production both on set and at the studio. During that time she kept her hands on the camera creating her own art and shooting for a dance company in Los Angeles where she found her passion for capturing ‘action.’ Some of her fine art photography was featured as a finalist in the Art Takes Times Square exhibition in 2012. 

A series of events led Chiabella back to London and returned her to on set photography alongside her father on Star Wars Episode 7. The two worked together for the next few years as a unique on set stills duo (The Force Awakens, Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, Jack Reacher Never Go Back, and Mission Impossible Fallout). 

Chiabella’s varied portfolio has been published in major international outlets like Vanity Fair and Vogue, Entertainment Weekly, Empire and ICG Magazine.

Her most recently published photography includes that of Dune and King Richard. Chiabella has just completed production on The Flash while also shooting editorials and pursuing her own photographic series’ including a current book project inspired by the Covid 19 pandemic and cultural unrest it brought to surface in the last year that will be sold to raise funds for mental health.

    Upcoming Workshops taught by Chiabella James