Background
Jones was born in South Africa and grew up in Chile and England, studying at Saint John"s School, Leatherhead before winning a scholarship to Jesus College, Oxford.
Jones was born in South Africa and grew up in Chile and England, studying at Saint John"s School, Leatherhead before winning a scholarship to Jesus College, Oxford.
Jesus College.
His photographs of life in Nigeria in the 1930s, taken whilst serving as a colonial civil servant, led to an interest in ethnology and a second career as an academic at the University of Cambridge. He then worked for the Colonial Service in Nigeria (1926–1946), serving as District Officer for Bende and the surrounding area. He became interested in the culture of the peoples of southeastern Nigeria, using a Rolleiflex camera to build up an extensive record of life in the area at the time.
Amongst other topics, his photographs show masks being used in performance, and shrines.
He was a noted scholar on African issues, returning on various occasios to Nigeria for research. He retired in 1971, but continued to write and remained active within Jesus College.