James P. Bell lives and works in his birthplace of Fort Smith, Arkansas. His early years were spent on a farm along Clear Creek in the Ozark mountains of northwestern Arkansas. He has called northern Montana his "adopted" second home since 1975 when he and his wife spent two years working on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

In 1957, as a child, J.P. and his family traveled by train from Arkansas to northern California on Santa Fe's San Francisco Chief. From that time forward, railroads and the American landscape through which these trains passed captured his imagination. His love of wilderness grew as he hiked in the intermountain West and canoed rivers of the Ozarks.

Bell has photographed professionally since 1987. His photographic inventory includes images from the Ozark Mountains, western United States, Africa, the Middle East, South America and Europe. His special interests include transportation, landscapes and whitewater sports.

J.P.'s black and white prints and color murals are sold through Art Form Gallery in Van Buren, Arkansas. His photography has been included in fine art collections of banks, hospitals, and corporate offices throughout the region.

Bell's photography and articles have appeared in Locomotive and Railway Preservation, Railfan and Railroad, the Arkansas Gazette, Arkansas Times, River magazine, and Active Years.