So the first interview in months is a good one with a wonderful film photographer with a long history on the web. I had a lot of fun during our few chat sessions putting together this interview. So I’m please to bring you an interview with Photographer Nic Nichols. Enjoy!
Photos
Who or What got you started in photography?
I got into photography because I couldn’t draw. My mother’s side of the family were all artists, and after years of classes at the Delaware art museum as a kid, the drawing gene just wasn’t past onto me…
So my grandfather gave me an old Nikormat 35mm and a few lenses when I was about 12 or 13… and that was it; I haven’t put a camera down since…
What are your two favorite subjects to shoot?
I have a fascination with abandoned buildings… not really sure why. I have traveled all around searching them out, from Eastern State Penitentiary in Philly to whole abandoned towns in New Jersey to the farms of Maryland…
Second would be photographing people with my ‘toy’ cameras. I love taking portraits, either on the streets or at an actual ‘session’. I really like the way the Holga settles people down and makes them comfortable people seem to be more relaxed with a toy cam than a big formal camera…
From viewing your photographs your mainly a film guy. How do you feel about the rumors of Kodak shutting down consumer film production and focusing more on digital?
I think there will be film for quite a while; although, I have a second fridge at the house with hundreds of rolls in it. There is a giant resurgence in film photography in Asia — most of my blog reads are from there — and new films are being produced and marketed.
Film isn’t going to go away, but it will become more scarce, and probably more expensive. I buy large blocks on eBay and stockpile as much as I can… with the release of cameras like the Holga 135, the Black Bird Fly, and other new 35′s there are a lot of people getting back into it. Not to mention the Lomo enthusiasts that have been doing it for years.
So your website has been online for 10 years. How has the internet changed your photography, either by interaction via email, your site, Flickr or any other photo sharing sites?
Good question. I am actually writing a piece right now on the need for a web presence, and if Flickr or a ‘Lomo home’ is enough. In ’98 when I started my site it was a way for me to get images out there and share them with people around the world.
Lomo home?
Oh, lomography.com, they have ‘homes’ that people can make; their own site within a site.
I have worked for the first photographer to go all digital on the east coast for about 15 years, and as interns here we had access to all the equipment all night long; scanners, big digital back on Hasselblads, SGI machines, a 5000 sq foot studio.. So I had the luxury of being able to get my work onto the computer with ease, and the tech to build and update sites so I spent time taking my personal work and getting it online before a lot of people were doing that. All that tech has made me shoot only film for my personal work, so the internet has really made me go analog, stripping away filters, effects any of that stuff go back to the basics simple, html…
The blog has really changed everything the most. I had no idea how many lo-fi shooters there were around the world, and its really made me push to find more and more cameras, films and accessories to shoot with. So I think the blog, more than anything, has effected the way I present and interact with the images and viewers…
How much post process work goes into your photographs either Photoshop or in physical darkroom?
None. I am really against post processing. My theory is this: if you have to rely on gimmicks and filters to make your images look good then you didn’t start with a good image. I do it in camera make a good image first, and you won’t need anything else. Most of the stuff on the site are raw scans. All film shot is processed at a local lab and then scanned on a Nikon LS-9000 scanner.
When it comes to printing what size do you like to display your work at?
I like at least 12×12 inches. Usually larger. I purchased an Epson 7880 recently that will do 24″ wide. So the next round of framed images I think will be about 20×20 inches.
When it comes to selling your prints who are your target buyers?
For larger prints, its photography collectors and enthusiasts. People will usually purchase something they have a connection to; the image I took of NYC a year or so before 9/11, or the image of Amish women waiting at Penn Station in Philly seem to be the most popular.
Name one thing you haven’t shot yet but always wanted to.
Japan/Asia. The Buddhist temples and the people who visit them they seem to be the most at peace people in the world. Japan seems to have some of the most serene countryside, little villages, temples, the houses on the water…
If you can impose one lasting impression on the view of your images what would it be?
I like to think that I am capturing something honest with the images I create. I try to strip them down to the raw image, and present it to the viewer as I have seen it. When I toured the Farms of New Jersey, or Eastern State Penitentiary, I chose the best film to convey what I saw, rather then doing anything in post.
I want to leave the viewer with a sense of the gritty, visceral, bleakness of the locations. When I shoot things like the Carnivals, Parks, Flowers and Children with a Holga, I want to convey the fun, colors and hope of that moment. Either way, I want to leave the viewer with an image that they won’t forget.
Linkage
I just want to thank Nic for taking the time to do this interview with me with both our busy days.