Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Nichols.
Hi Rachel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My love affair with photography began in my high school photography class. Back then, digital cameras were huge, clunky and took pretty garbage photos only being used as a requirement once a semester to say that we’d at least tried our hands at the up-and-coming technology. So, I took my very first shots with my dad’s 1976 Fujica film camera instead. I can’t tell you how many rolls of film I lost to accidental exposures and light leaks as I learned the processing technique. So. Many. Swear. Words. But as I kept at it and leaned endlessly over those stinky plastic tubs of chemical developer and fix, I would hold my breath (because #smells) and watch in complete amazement as my hard work would bloom to life right in front of my eyes. Rich blacks, bright whites, and every tone in between would erupt in the glow of that red light that illuminated the darkroom. It was magic. And I was smitten.
When I graduated college in 2009, my husband bought me my first DSLR as a graduation gift. I was off and running. I photographed anything and everything but soon found people in beautiful light were my favorite stories to tell through my lens. I firmly believe that everyone has a story worth telling. Everyone. With that conviction, I started Rachel Nichols Photography in 2010. I would take senior photos for $100 as I built up my clientele and know-how. Looking back, I didn’t even know what I didn’t know. And I’m so grateful. When I see some of my earliest work I die a little on the inside. But I was just chasing that feeling that lit me right up and kept me looking for all the places where the light lived. And I’m proud of myself for that.
Just after I received my first “big girl” camera, however, my life circumstances began to get really heavy for a lot of different reasons. Years and years went by and the physical and emotional pain was relentless and exponential. Soon, I was swimming in the depths of a very real and very raw clinical depression. Eventually, I was diagnosed with a lifelong incurable condition known as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which causes me daily pain, fatigue and migraines among other things. Oftentimes, my invisible illness has a way of making me feel like I might just disappear. That’s when photography really became the breath in my lungs and the buoyancy in my heart as I navigated my diagnosis. It sounds trite when I say it was the lifeline to myself, my vision, my hopes, dreams and the way I interacted with and saw the beauty in the world around me despite this very hard thing. But, facts.
When my first baby was born in 2012, time took on a whole new meaning. I quickly realized what everyone had warned me about to be true: “Babies don’t keep.” In a desperate effort to encapsulate his and his siblings’ sleepy little grins and chubby cherub wrists, I would pull out my camera. Over and over and over again. Time could then march on, but at least I would have a forever souvenir from those precious and evaporating days that I knew my heart would ache for one day. It was a seamless transition to begin photographing others’ babies, no matter their age. Because at the end of the day, we are all just cursing the clock.
Twelve years later and I’m still pursuing the magical high that occurs when my subject, camera, and light dance in the most perfect of ways. Alignment. Art. I wish I could explain what it means to put a piece of myself out into the world (I know this feeling is not unique to me but something all artists feel deeply). When I look through my viewfinder, I am reminded how incredible and fragile and temporary life is. We get one shot at each moment in our lives. I am so glad for the voice my lens affords me when words fail me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My journey in photography has been just that: a journey. I have faced burnout, Imposter’s Syndrome (it’s real, ya’ll), finicky clients, some sketchy circumstances at shoots (Oh, hello, squatter man), creativity blocks, questioning EVERYTHING I do, editing and printing disasters, frustration at feeling like I need to be bigger or better known, and of course, a deep dive into the social media comparison game (I mean, it’s ongoing). There are sooooo many talented photographers in the world. SO, so many. Who am I to think that I can compete with that let alone run among them?
But the reality is that it’s not a competition. I have to constantly remind myself that photography isn’t something I do only for the money. Rather, I photograph because it serves as the vehicle that allows my inner thoughts and feelings to be deposited into the great big wide world, a world where others might stop and be able to say, “Hey. Me too. I feel seen.” It opens my heart and soul and mind up in all the right places. In it, I have found refuge. And connection. And deep friendships. And a way of expression I only hoped existed as a front-row audience member and storyteller of this thing we call life. And THAT is why I continue to pick up my camera.
I have also learned that feelings can coexist. I used to take an all-or-nothing approach, i.e., “I have to be the very, very best in all the land or I’m not worth it.” That killed my joy for my craft pretty quick. Now I know I can think that another photographer is incredible AND still be proud of my own work. I can feel like I’ll never know it all (because I won’t) AND still use my expertise to deliver beautiful photographs to my clients to cherish for generations. I live by the mantra that is “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.” You do, however, have to push that shutter button. You do have to show up. You do have to be willing to succumb to a certain level of vulnerability. I don’t think I’ll ever wake up and think, “I’ve made it.” But one thing I won’t do is give up.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I recently submitted a portfolio to be evaluated by a professional photographer’s organization and the three words I chose to describe it were: “Whimsical. Deep. Emotive.” I specialize in and am drawn to lifestyle photography. This means I love to capture the genuine and fleeting moment as it naturally occurs in real time. Whimsical. Deep. Emotive. Like life.
I LOVE love and laughter. And to capture it, process it, and then release it in the form of a photograph feels somewhat like catching a firefly in a little glass jar–I stand a little bit in awe at the glow of it all. However, I equally value the hard, heavy or mundane moments in life as those are just as critical to who we are and the stories we each will weave in our lifetime.
I have trained some in flash photography, but my heart will always beat for natural light–a warm summer sunset, afternoon kitchen light pouring through a window, the glow and cast of a fire, etc. I aim to FEEL deeply when I look at my work. And I want others to, as well. I will often put my photos to music as a true test, and if I don’t cry, good or bad, I don’t want it. Gimme all the feels.
My dream is to own a studio and shoot editorial and just laugh a whole lot–and maybe cry a little, too. I’ve always been a huge pop culture fan and would pass out if I got to photograph fellow artists and/or visionaries in art, film and music (K. Stew, Billie Eilish, Hanson brothers–I’m ready. Or I could be after I peed myself from excitement and got cleaned up. Just putting that out into the universe).
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I am a dental hygienist by trade. I joke with people in the cheesiest and most cringe way that I’ve always been “in the business of smiles.” Hardy har har. I used to walk by the photography building on my college campus and stare longingly into its windows like a real creep knowing full well that I would one day make room for my camera in my life again (I didn’t study photography in college because my nerdy, practical-thinking side simply told my heart “No”). I’m happy to report that I stuck true to my gut and eventually did the dang thing. My only regret is that I didn’t allow myself that freedom sooner. I continue to work very part-time as a dental hygienist for about 8 hours a week (seriously, you should floss). And my camera is always waiting for me when I get home.
Contact Info:
- Email: rachelnicholsphotography@gmail.com
- Website: www.rachelnicholsphotography.com
- Instagram: @Rachelnicholsphoto
- Facebook: Facebook.com/shootlikeagirl
Image Credits
Sasha Piton (Sunflower Photos)
Rachel Nichols
