Birds by James
Exploring a CMS-Driven Photography Portfolio
Photography portfolios are built around the images, but keeping a portfolio up to date should be straightforward for the person behind the camera, too.
Birds By James was an opportunity to explore how Payload CMS could be used to build a photography portfolio that combines a bespoke frontend with a flexible content management system. The idea was to give the photography its own space to stand out while making the underlying content easier to manage.
Using Next.js alongside Payload CMS, I explored how portfolio content, images and project pages could be managed through the CMS and presented through a custom-designed interface. Rather than relying on a static collection of hardcoded content, the approach allowed the website to draw on structured content managed separately from its presentation.
The project also provided an opportunity to experiment with Payload's content modelling, media handling and integration with Next.js, including how CMS-managed projects could be displayed in a responsive portfolio layout.
Birds By James was ultimately a chance to explore a different way of building content-rich websites combining the design freedom of a custom frontend with the convenience of a dedicated CMS, and investigating how that approach could work for photographers and other creatives.