Nick Fancher 8/2/23 Nick Fancher 8/2/23

Images from the August Creative Portrait Workshop

This past weekend I held my latest Creative Portrait workshop at my Columbus studio. We kicked off the weekend exploring color theory and shadow sculpting…

Nick Fancher 7/5/21 Nick Fancher 7/5/21

Water Drops, Light Painting, and Lens Fungus (Oh My)

When Lily arrived at my studio I decided to start off with some colorful water drop portraits before getting into the light painting…

Nick Fancher 5/17/21 Nick Fancher 5/17/21

A Fixed Point in Space Over Time: Photo Shoot with Ballet Dancer Kristie Latham Zurmehly

In my art my go-to techniques all center around the passage of time. Take this shoot with Kristie, for example. I made long exposures and multiple exposures in order to observe how she moved through a fixed point in space over time, which I otherwise wouldn’t be able to see with my naked eye…

Nick Fancher 2/25/21 Nick Fancher 2/25/21

This is Water

For decades I’ve adored 4AD album art from the 80s and 90s. The genius team behind the photography and design was Nigel Grierson and Vaughan Oliver, who operated under the name 23 Envelope. They were responsible for iconic album art of This Mortal Coil, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, The Pixies, and many more. Over the years I’ve tried over and over again to mimic some of the effects that I saw used in their photography, but my experiments always came up short. Much to my delight, my latest photographic exploration is the closest to their aesthetic, by far…

Nick Fancher 2/19/21 Nick Fancher 2/19/21

Cyberpunk Flapper Girl and Other Photographic Mashups

It’s a rare occasion when I do a team collaboration on a personal shoot. I typically prefer to work directly with the model, having them bring their own wardrobe and arrive with their hair and makeup already done. It not only saves time and is easier to coordinate but I also love the challenge of coming up with a cohesive theme for the shoot, basing my techniques, lighting, and color palette on the items that they brought with them. That said, when I do get to work with a great team such as this, I can see how the images really elevate…

Nick Fancher 2/10/21 Nick Fancher 2/10/21

Playing with Bold Colors and Silhouettes

This was a fun, quick little color study with Erin Hurt, who did her own hair, makeup, and wardrobe styling. I wanted to focus on color and silhouette, so I had her select items with interesting shapes, like suit jacket or an A-line dress…

Nick Fancher 1/7/21 Nick Fancher 1/7/21

The Unmasking: Shoot, Print, Shoot

Last week I shot had a brief session with @mundermonster. I shot for about five minutes, capturing a range of poses. Then I took a break to import the images, select a favorite, and print it out on an office inkjet printer. Then the shoot resumed and I directed Mary in using the print as a prop. I really love this as a visual metaphor for the perceived self…

Nick Fancher 12/25/20 Nick Fancher 12/25/20

Elegance of Form

I kept it simple in this shoot with Angela. No fancy camera or lighting techniques. Just focusing on mood and form…

Nick Fancher 9/14/20 Nick Fancher 9/14/20

Getting Spooky with Rachel (Digital Pinhole)

Last week I shot with frequent collaborator Rachel Luree and made a range of ghosty images, including some digital pinhole images. If you’re unfamiliar with pinhole photography, it’s essentially any light-tight object with photo sensitive material inside and a tiny hole which acts as the aperture. An entire room can then be a pinhole camera (see camera obscura). I’ve made pinhole cameras out of LEGO, oatmeal boxes, film canisters, and cigarette tins. While each iteration has offered unique results, exploring digital pinhole has been a quicker and easier experience by far.

Nick Fancher 7/14/20 Nick Fancher 7/14/20

She's on Fire

A couple weeks ago I shot with photographer/model/stylist Hayle Cordle and I leaned back into my passion for color. Since I wrapped writing for Chroma two years ago I have shifted my focus from color to experimenting more with abstraction and texture. This felt more like a simple study of mood, via color. I need to give myself permission to do more of these simple, fun explorations. It’s restorative.

Nick Fancher 7/6/20 Nick Fancher 7/6/20

Trauma Portraits (Series)

In 2017 I began a series exploring trauma. I invited participants to come share their story with me, which was followed by a brief portrait session. I had subjects gather several images (or a video) that represented a time of significant trauma in their lives, which they brought to my studio to share with me. When they arrived we took some time to sit and discuss their story. After chatting I took the imagery they brought, loaded it into a slideshow, and projected it onto them while I created multiple-exposure portraits. As the photographic layers began to stack up, the projected images of trauma became less and less recognizable and only the colors and fragmented shapes remained. Old photos representing terror and loss began to disintegrate. Scars transformed into beauty marks, wounds and wholeness inextricable.

Nick Fancher 6/30/20 Nick Fancher 6/30/20

Exorcise Routine

Yesterday I shot with Katy and really leaned into creating dreamlike (nightmarish?) images. I’ve been experimenting with mylar for over a year now and continue to find new ways of interpreting the material. I love the soft reflection it offers, which give the photos a painterly quality. With the warping of the material, otherwise dreamy images turn into those depicting an exorcism.