Michael “Nick” Nichols is perhaps one of the first photographers to come to mind when speaking of conservation photography. In his span of thirty years in the photography business the majority of his work has focused exclusively on wildlife. Aside from being a former Magnum photographer, he is a current member of the International League of Conservation Photographers. Nichols has been a part of the National Geographic team since 1996, and is currently a staff photographer and editor at large. He has completed over 20 stories for the Geographic, almost all dealing with land and wildlife conservation. Most of the Geographic’s iconic animal imagery has been his handiwork.Nicholas was coined the “Indiana Jones of Photography” by Paris Match for his adventurous, in not somewhat zealous, approach to his assignments (this is a man who stands and gets shots of charging bull elephants rather than bothering to get out of the way). One of his first National Geographic assignments was a profile on Jane Goodall, an assignment that eventually led to the book , “Brutal Kinship”. Within the book Nichols’ photographs explore the relationship between chimpanzees and humans, with Goodall herself supplying the text.
For two years (1999-2001) he followed conservationist Mark Fay’s Megatransect expedition, documenting the entire 2,000 mile walk from the deepest rainforest of the Congo to Gabon’s Atlantic Coast. The intensive journey took place in order to study Africa’s last great wilderness. In 2001 the deep dedication and effort became manifested as the National Geographic articles “Megatransect: Across 1,200 Miles of Untamed Africa on Foot,” “Green Abyss: Megatransect, Part II,” and “End of the Line: Megatransect, Part III.”
Nichols states: “There’s always been a lot of destruction of the environment and endangered species in the areas I work, but we’re reaching an apex with it, and I feel a huge obligation to do the work that I do. I’m kind of on a mission, working really hard to tell their story, speaking for them since they can’t speak for themselves. There was a time when I took pictures just for the photograph, just to see if I could do it or if it was interesting. But the Geographic has such a huge audience that I really started to see how much effect the work can have. I think I’m addicted to it now. When the Geographic does a story, it reaches so many people that you can actually effect change.” National Geographic holds a similar view of one of their most notorious photographers, saying, “…in the last 15 years [Nichols] has become one of the world’s most important wildlife photographers. . . . An activist at heart, Nichols makes photographs of creatures that cannot speak for themselves—sometimes risking his life in the process”.
Nichols speaks about using photography to save habitats:
Voices Behind the Camera | Nick Nichols
-Kat
