March 9, 2004
Contact: George Yatchisin
(805) 893-3494
e-mail: yatchisin-g@ sa.ucsb.edu
The National Geographic Live! series at UCSB presents esteemed wildlife photographer Michael “Nick” Nichols delivering the illustrated lecture Megatransect—A Photographic Journey Through the Heart of Africa
Summary Facts:
- Michael “Nick” Nichols
- An acclaimed wildlife photographer and former Magnum agency member
- Nichols has collaborated with Dr. Jane Goodall and others on conservation and book projects
- Fourth of four events in the ’03–’04 National Geographic Live! series
- Monday, April 12
- 8 pm / UCSB Campbell Hall
- General public $15 / UCSB students & youth under 18 $10
- Tickets/Information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535
Michael “Nick” Nichols, who has photographed compelling and important images from some of the most remote and inhospitable places on Earth, will present the illustrated lecture Megatransect—A Photographic Journey Through the Heart of Africa on Monday, April 12 at 8 pm in UCSB Campbell Hall. This event is part of UCSB Arts & Lectures presentation of the National Geographic Live! series and is co-presented with Brooks Institute of Photography.
In the fall of 1999 Nichols set out with conservationist Michael Fay on a historic National Geographic assignment: a 2,000-mile walk through the heart of Africa, dubbed the Megatransect. Their mission was to create a lasting chronicle of what the African forest was like before human incursions altered it forever. Their path cut through 13 areas of connected forests—the largest remaining area of land on the African continent uninhabited by humans. Nichols joined Fay at strategic points to document the expedition. In 2002 El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba, the President of Gabon agreed, after seeing Nichols’s photographs, to set aside 10 percent of the country’s land for a system of national parks. In his presentation Nichols blends the magic of his photography with a powerful conservation message.
Nichols’ first exposure to photography came when he was assigned to the photography unit as an Army draftee in the early 1970s. Nichols later studied his craft at the University of North Alabama. After college his early assignments emphasized work in dangerous situations such as flying into the eye of a hurricane and rafting the Indus River in Pakistan. Such work earned Nichols the nickname “the Indiana Jones of photography” and brought him to the attention of National Geographic. The first story he shot for the magazine was about Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico, the deepest and most dangerous cave in the U.S. Before long his professional focus shifted to endangered creatures such as gorillas, chimpanzees and tigers, and their shrinking habitats. His extraordinary commitment and ability to produce quality images under the most daunting conditions quickly won him the admiration of his peers, and his superb images have been the backbone of many environmental preservation battles.
Conservation of wildlife and the fragile ecosystems that sustain it has become the heart of Nichols’s life work. He collaborated with legendary primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall on Brutal Kinship, a book documenting humanity’s treatment of our nearest biological cousins, the chimpanzees. He is co-author, along with writer Geoffrey Ward, of Year of the Tiger, a visual portrait of the endangered felines, shot in the wild and in captivity.
His photography has won several awards from the World Press and the Overseas Press Club, which gave him a prize for reporting “above and beyond the call of duty,” an honor usually reserved for combat photographers. His work has appeared in such publications as Rolling Stone, LIFE, American Photographer, Stern and the New York Times Magazine.
For more information about Michael Nichols, see his website at www.michaelnicknichols.com
This program is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures in association with National Geographic Live!, a mission program of speakers and events that brings the National Geographic experience to communities nationwide. The acclaimed lecture series features some of the world’s most celebrated photographers, adventurers, authors and scientists who explore the world while on assignment for National Geographic.
Tickets for Megatransect—A Photographic Journey Through the Heart of Africa are $15 for the general public and $10 for UCSB and Brooks Institute students & youth 18 and under.
For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.
Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.