Michael “Nick” Nichols, a native of Alabama, is an award-winning photographer whose work has taken him to the most remote corners of the world. He became a staff photographer for the National Geographic magazine in 1996 and was named editor at large in January 2008. From 1982 to 1995 he was a member of Magnum Photos, the prestigious cooperative founded by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa.
He has photographed 25 stories for National Geographic magazine, including the upcoming “The Short Happy Life of the Serengeti Lion” (NGM August 2013), breaking new ground in photographing the king of the beast using infrared, a robot controlled mini-tank for eye-level views, and a tiny, camera carrying electric helicopter. The Visa Pour L’Image festival in Perpignan, France will feature this story at its 25th Anniversary 2013 festival; and will also be featured at the 2013 LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph. The December 2012 cover story of National Geographic Magazine, “The World’s Largest Trees,” featured a 5-page foldout of a Giant Sequoia built from 126 images. The image was made during a California blizzard. This built upon the technique used in “Redwoods: The Super Trees” (NGM October 2009), where Nichols broke new ground in photography of the world’s tallest trees by using these innovative rigging techniques to create an 84 image composite of a 300-foot-tall, 1,500-year-old redwood tree.