Artist Spotlight

Nick Brandt

If I could, I would showcase every single one of his images in this post, but that would require uploading and referencing them all. His images can be found here [x]. At this moment, he is my favorite photographer, because the images he captures, the quality of the photos, and the subject in his photos are amazing. I think he is successful at what he does; he accomplishes captivating his audience with the beauty of the animals and landscapes in his images.

Brandt exclusively photographs in Africa. "One of his goals is to record a visually poetic last testament to the wild animals and places there [in Africa] before they are destroyed by the hands of man [x]." He was born and raised in London, England. He studied painting then film at St. Martins School of Art. In 1992, he moved to the United States then subsequently directed many award winning music videos for artists Michael Jackson, Jewel, and Moby. Michael Jackson's "Earth Song" is what inspired his love for animals and the land of East Africa [x]. My favorite images by him - "On this Earth," "A Shadow Falls I," "A Shadow Falls II," and "Selected New Work" - were photographed between 2000 and 2011.

His work is unique in the facet that he shoots with film, but scans his negatives, then dodges and burns the images using Photoshop. "He doesn't add or clone animals or skies - with great luck and patience, the scenes are as he saw them [x]." I think I'm so drawn to his images because last semester I visited Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville, NC to photograph the animals [x], [x]; it was one of the most exciting parts of my photographic journey so far... to get close to wildlife animals, intricately capture them, while equally on an adrenaline rush because there's a group of giant zebras approaching the window of your vehicle.