John Davies was born in County Durham, England and studied photography in Nottingham. After graduating in 1974 he became fascinated by the rural landscape during his visits to the west coast of Ireland. His images of Ireland, Scotland and England, made between 1976-1981, were published in the monograph Mist Mountain Water Wind in 1985. In 1981, he won a Research Fellowship at Sheffield School of Art and in 1995-1996 he was a Senior Research Fellow at the Art School at the University of Wales Cardiff. Davies was the first photographer to be commissioned by the Museum of London in 2001. His work has been shown at many international venues including the Museum of Modern Art New York and the Pompidou Centre in Paris.