*1976
Photographer. tuart Nicholls was born in 1976 in the maritime city of Portsmouth, the same time the world heard Zeppelin’s ‘Achilles Last Stand’. Pursuing his interest in photography, he studied the art at the colleges of South Downs and Stoke on Trent respectively. In 2000 Stuart moved to London to assist noted music photographer Jill Furmanovsky. He became the specialist printer for her company ‘Rockarchive', where he practiced the traditional silver halide wet and digital processes. This experience secured him a place as one of the most highly regarded printers in the business. On top of this Stuart established himself as a proficient music photographer in his own right. Stuart came to prominence as a result of his position as resident photographer at the Marquee and Islington Academy, together with his long time association with two of the UK’s most prodigious talents The Subways and The Delays. With Stuart’s innate ability to capture the essence and vitality of this new talent he also has time to discover the next ‘big thing’, like bands such as Voodoo Six and Wry as well as immortalising established artists such as The Bluetones. Stuart's unique style fast became recognised throughout the music industry. Record companies such as Warner Music and Rough Trade capitalised on his work. In addition to this Stuart also worked on several jobs for Carling, the most recent being the advertising campaign 'Cold Beer, Music' which was used for the Reading & Leeds festivals and the Carling Live website. More recently Stuart has changed direction embarking on more personal projects. In this insincere digital age he wants to strip the art of photography back to its origins. He has ventured to create fine art images where the entire process, from loading the camera to drying the print, is meticulously considered. The images, all shot with black and white film, are available in special editions according to the time and place taken. Although each is very different to the last, they are all representative of something that has stirred the photographer