All images © Sherrie Nickol, from the series By The Water
Sherrie Nickol
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herrie Nickol is a fine art photographer who captures moments in time — and life — with almost tangible warmth and energy. She grew up in Osceola, Arkansas, and has lived her adult life in New York City. Nickol studied photography at the University of Cincinnati and later at the International Center of Photography
in New York City. Her photographs are in the permanent collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, and numerous private collections in the United States. She has mounted one-person exhibitions at Temple University in Philadelphia and The National Arts Club in New York City. In recent years Nickol has focused her artistic practice on exploring the relationships between people and their environments. She is interested in families as they come together to share experiences and in individuals as they navigate their space alone. Her work examines the different ways to experience public and private spaces. She brings sincerity to her approach that breaks down barriers and allows her to connect deeply with the subjects.
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All images © Sherrie Nickol, from the series By The Water
Sherrie Nickol
S
herrie Nickol is a fine art photographer who captures moments in time — and life — with almost tangible warmth and energy. She grew up in Osceola, Arkansas, and has lived her adult life in New York City. Nickol studied photography at the University of Cincinnati and later at the International Center of Photography
in New York City. Her photographs are in the permanent collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, and numerous private collections in the United States. She has mounted one-person exhibitions at Temple University in Philadelphia and The National Arts Club in New York City. In recent years Nickol has focused her artistic practice on exploring the relationships between people and their environments. She is interested in families as they come together to share experiences and in individuals as they navigate their space alone. Her work examines the different ways to experience public and private spaces. She brings sincerity to her approach that breaks down barriers and allows her to connect deeply with the subjects.
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POETICS OF WATER FROM A VACATION PERSPECTIVE When Sherrie’s son turned six, their family began spending a part of each summer near the town of Dinard, on the north coast of Brittany in France. She started a project documenting people’s lives as they vacationed on nearby beaches: they always rented the same home not far from the coast, a short car ride from their relatives who lived in an old stone house on a working farm. The scenes spoke of another era, with seaside picnics and striped cabanas dotting the beaches. The photographs in this series show the intimacy among families, friends, and lovers while they break from their routines and come together by the water. “My work there eventually grew into a broader interest in that special combination of energy, humor, and interaction that occurs around water. I began visiting other locations, from Block Island, Rhode Island, and Heber Springs, Arkansas to the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago and Old Orchard Beach in Maine.” In 2016 she expanded the project By the Water, intending to document summer scenes at all of the urban beaches in New York City. Beaches attract all types of people, and this is especially apparent in this large metropolis with miles of shoreline, possibly the most culturally diverse urban center on earth. “What excited me particularly when I began to explore the urban seaside was the many nationalities of families, teens, and friends all
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enjoying their time by the ocean, which was only a subway ride away”, says the artist. Then, she began at Coney Island, where the famous amusement park served as a backdrop to the deep expanse of sand, as the visitors flocked there via public transportation to spend the day with family and friends, picnicking and bathing. Neighboring Brighton Beach was followed, with its large Russian émigré contingent filling the cafes, bars, and restaurants that lined the boardwalk. The artist then ventured to Queens, to the beach at Far Rockaway with its cadre of surfers, and Jacob Riis Beach when there was inclement weather. In all, the time spent on this urban project enhanced her image of New York, adding warmth and community as descriptors of this massive urban center. Sherrie’s keen interest in photography began while a student at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, where her studies centered on portraiture. She created local projects that incorporated the lives of her female classmates, who offered to work with her as she created fantastical visual stories. “Having grown up in a small rural Southern town, going East to Ohio to study was already crossing into new territory. So, when in my senior year at college, my photography professor, Gerald Stratton, suggested that I should venture to New York City after graduation because that is where I belonged, I was young and inquisitive enough to follow his advice. To the chagrin of my parents, I made my way up North and have been a New Yorker ever since.”
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POETICS OF WATER FROM A VACATION PERSPECTIVE When Sherrie’s son turned six, their family began spending a part of each summer near the town of Dinard, on the north coast of Brittany in France. She started a project documenting people’s lives as they vacationed on nearby beaches: they always rented the same home not far from the coast, a short car ride from their relatives who lived in an old stone house on a working farm. The scenes spoke of another era, with seaside picnics and striped cabanas dotting the beaches. The photographs in this series show the intimacy among families, friends, and lovers while they break from their routines and come together by the water. “My work there eventually grew into a broader interest in that special combination of energy, humor, and interaction that occurs around water. I began visiting other locations, from Block Island, Rhode Island, and Heber Springs, Arkansas to the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago and Old Orchard Beach in Maine.” In 2016 she expanded the project By the Water, intending to document summer scenes at all of the urban beaches in New York City. Beaches attract all types of people, and this is especially apparent in this large metropolis with miles of shoreline, possibly the most culturally diverse urban center on earth. “What excited me particularly when I began to explore the urban seaside was the many nationalities of families, teens, and friends all
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enjoying their time by the ocean, which was only a subway ride away”, says the artist. Then, she began at Coney Island, where the famous amusement park served as a backdrop to the deep expanse of sand, as the visitors flocked there via public transportation to spend the day with family and friends, picnicking and bathing. Neighboring Brighton Beach was followed, with its large Russian émigré contingent filling the cafes, bars, and restaurants that lined the boardwalk. The artist then ventured to Queens, to the beach at Far Rockaway with its cadre of surfers, and Jacob Riis Beach when there was inclement weather. In all, the time spent on this urban project enhanced her image of New York, adding warmth and community as descriptors of this massive urban center. Sherrie’s keen interest in photography began while a student at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, where her studies centered on portraiture. She created local projects that incorporated the lives of her female classmates, who offered to work with her as she created fantastical visual stories. “Having grown up in a small rural Southern town, going East to Ohio to study was already crossing into new territory. So, when in my senior year at college, my photography professor, Gerald Stratton, suggested that I should venture to New York City after graduation because that is where I belonged, I was young and inquisitive enough to follow his advice. To the chagrin of my parents, I made my way up North and have been a New Yorker ever since.”
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When she arrived in the city as a young female photographer, she discovered that it was much more challenging to find a job as an assistant than her male counterparts. However, she did manage to work in several studios in those first years while pursuing her projects. These experiences would eventually lead to several freelance assignments for local magazines and then to a full-time staff position at a weekly periodical. In developing her visual language, Sherrie found the works of Julia Margaret Cameron, Margaret Bourke-White, Richard Avedon, and Lilian Bassman fascinating. “I took courses at night at ICP (International Center of Photography), which led to becoming a teaching assistant for several classes. That allowed me to the institute’s darkroom, where I printed my new projects. I found Philippe Halsman’s lessons about the Psychological Portraitthe the most inspiring, which was taught in part by his wife, Yvonne
Halsman, who became a friend. I periodically visited her at her home, which also served as the studio; shared for years with her famous husband. And there I was immersed in the history of photography from another era.” Before transitioning to digital photography, she used several traditional film camera systems: Canon, Hasselblad, Contax, and Mamiya. However, she has fully converted to Canon digital camera bodies, and now Sigma Art lenses for the past twelve years. "I prefer to always use natural light for my work, but when necessary I implement ProFoto lighting", says the artist. What's next? Before the Covid pandemic, Sherrie had been working for several years on projects about women: Face to Face, Portraits of Dancers, and her ongoing series Crowdscapes. She hopes to continue this series as soon as the world is safe again for close human interaction.
" It's not the photograph itself that matters, it's what you do with it. "
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When she arrived in the city as a young female photographer, she discovered that it was much more challenging to find a job as an assistant than her male counterparts. However, she did manage to work in several studios in those first years while pursuing her projects. These experiences would eventually lead to several freelance assignments for local magazines and then to a full-time staff position at a weekly periodical. In developing her visual language, Sherrie found the works of Julia Margaret Cameron, Margaret Bourke-White, Richard Avedon, and Lilian Bassman fascinating. “I took courses at night at ICP (International Center of Photography), which led to becoming a teaching assistant for several classes. That allowed me to the institute’s darkroom, where I printed my new projects. I found Philippe Halsman’s lessons about the Psychological Portraitthe the most inspiring, which was taught in part by his wife, Yvonne
Halsman, who became a friend. I periodically visited her at her home, which also served as the studio; shared for years with her famous husband. And there I was immersed in the history of photography from another era.” Before transitioning to digital photography, she used several traditional film camera systems: Canon, Hasselblad, Contax, and Mamiya. However, she has fully converted to Canon digital camera bodies, and now Sigma Art lenses for the past twelve years. "I prefer to always use natural light for my work, but when necessary I implement ProFoto lighting", says the artist. What's next? Before the Covid pandemic, Sherrie had been working for several years on projects about women: Face to Face, Portraits of Dancers, and her ongoing series Crowdscapes. She hopes to continue this series as soon as the world is safe again for close human interaction.
" It's not the photograph itself that matters, it's what you do with it. "
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