PHOTOGRAPHER #18.
Website: http://www.michaelnicknichols.com/
Contact: info@michaelnicknichols.com
One of my favourite ancient Chinese stories is of an old master potter who attempted to develop a new glaze for his porcelain vases. It became the central focus of his life. Everyday he tended the flames of his kilns to a white heat, controlling the temperature to an exact degree. Every day he experimented with the chemistry of the glazes he applied, but still he could not achieve the beauty he desired and imagined was possible in a glaze. Finally, having tried everything he decided his meaningful life was over and walked into the molten heat of the fully fired kiln. When his assistants opened up the kiln and took out the vases, they found the glaze on the vases the most exquisite they had ever encountered. The master himself had disappeared into his creations.
To me, one of the highest forms of romanticism is handing your life over to your art. Doing this always incurs a high risk or cost, however in that moment of release magic surfaces in spectacular ways. Michael Nick Nichols is a fantastic example of this theory.
Nichols is famously known for his nature photography, risking life and limb (and his team) not only in the moment of capturing the shot, but simply in the lifestyle attached to finding the desired subjects. Through his emotional mastery over fear, doubt and physical discomfort he is able to produce magical photographs, depicting a reality so far removed from civilised societies.
Nichols' relationship with his passions is truly admirable. Intertwining his talents in photography, journalism and survival.
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