A Wild Life: A Visual Biography of Photographer Michael Nichols - by Melissa Harris Hardcover

About the Book

A Wild Life is Michael "Nick" Nichols's story, told with passion and insight by author and photo-editor Melissa Harris. Nichols's story combines a life of adventure with a conviction about how we can redeem the human race by protecting our wildlife. The book's two central characters are the photographer--who journeys from the American South, via the photographers' cooperative Magnum, to becoming lead wildlife photographer of National Geographic magazine--and the author, who travels with the photographer on assignment in Africa, to gain intimate and deep insight into her subject. Harris's story also draws on meetings with some of the world's leading eco-scientists--including legendary primatologist Jane Goodall.

Book Synopsis

Michael 'Nick' Nichols has for decades created powerful and eloquent images of iconic wildlife species. His vision is to stir the emotions of viewers leading to empathy and conservation. Melissa Harris has provided a sparkling text not just of Nick and his colleagues at work in the field, but one which provides many fascinating insights into the conservation issues related to his photographic quests. Among these are the survival of mountain gorillas during nearly six decades of civil war in their realm, the horrendous elephant slaughter for ivory, and the ethics of trophy hunting, of killing lions for pleasure. This is an illuminating and honest book about some of the world's greatest natural treasures and those who strive to protect them.--George B. Schaller, author of The Serengeti Lion and The Year of the Gorilla

A Wild Life is Nichols's story, told with passion and insight by author and photo-editor Melissa Harris. Nichols' story combines a life of adventure, with a conviction about how we can redeem the human race by protecting our wildlife. The book's two central characters are the photographer--who journeys from the American South, via the photographers' co-operative Magnum, to becoming lead wildlife photographer of National Geographic magazine--and the author, who travels with the photographer on assignment in Africa, to gain intimate and deep insight into her subject. Harris's story also draws on meetings with some of the world's leading eco-scientists--including legendary primatologist, Jane Goodall.

From the Back Cover

In every one of his images, National Geographic photographer Michael "Nick" Nichols touches the very spirit of wildness. A Wild Life tells the stories behind the stories in the life and work of this intrepid photographer; it also delivers a call to action, grounded in one of the most urgent ethical issues of this era: humans' accountability to the earth and our cohabitants here.

I love Nick because of his bravery and love of animals. I love the way he's able to integrate himself into the lives of animals in their habitats. He becomes part of them, which is extraordinary; no one else does that. He's not showing us anything sentimental about animals. He's a realist. So we're seeing the intimate side of the lives of animals. I'm amazed he can do that. He's patient. Nick's work is wonderful. I love the fact that he's able to show us that intimacy.--Mary Ellen Mark, author of Tiny: Streetwise Revisited and Man and Beast

Review Quotes

Michael 'Nick' Nichols has for decades created powerful and eloquent images of iconic wildlife species. His vision is to stir the emotions of viewers leading to empathy and conservation. Melissa Harris has provided a sparkling text not just of Nick and his colleagues at work in the field, but one which provides many fascinating insights into the conservation issues related to his photographic quests. Among these are the survival of mountain gorillas during nearly six decades of civil war in their realm, the horrendous elephant slaughter for ivory, and the ethics of trophy hunting, of killing lions for pleasure. This is an illuminating and honest book about some of the world's greatest natural treasures and those who strive to protect them.--George B. Schaller, author of The Serengeti Lion and The Year of the Gorilla

Nick and Melissa give us photography in concentrated form, brilliantly seized and wonderfully explained.--Robert Farris Thompson, author of Tango: The Art History of Love and Flash of the Spirit