I’ve been following Nick’s work for a while now. He’s the go-to city-photographer for the Toronto Star. He’s a staff photographer. That’s a rare and coveted job, a big dog job, but he does’t act like a big dog. I think for Nick it’s about shouldering responsibility. He’s telling stories for an honourable publication, in a city he loves.
Nick is a photographer, yes, but at The Star he’s a photojournalist. There is a difference (he tells me). He’s trying to support and convey the story in elevated ways. He’s creative with choosing interesting vantage points, or getting close. He also writes. He wrote a lovely piece recently that made it into the paper. “Getting to tell stories about this community on a daily basis is such a privilege and I’m so thankful”.
How does your day start?
‘One of the things I like the most about being a photojournalist is you never know how your day is going to turn out’. If there is something big happening, like a public funeral, he knows ahead of time. “I knew I was shooting the Taylor Swift concert. I knew I’d be at the World Series. Everything else is about 1-2 hours notice, sometimes a little more”. He’s running around the city working on 2-4-(ish) stories every day. It’s always changing. Sometimes it’s a feature, a portrait, or a breaking news story. The editors are smart about keeping everyone motivated and playing to their strengths. They keep the assignments fresh for their journalists, sending them on “juicy” assignments when they need it. Sometimes though, if you’re writing a story about home prices, you just need some pictures of For Sale signs.
When he leaves his neighbourhood of Bloor & Ossington in the morning, he’s loaded with gear. It’s a lot of stuff, but not too much. Everything is proven and needed. “My everyday setup is 2 Canon R3 cameras”. There is a 15-35mm wide angle zoom on one body, and a 70-200mm on the other body. He also keeps a 24-70mm handy for portraits, and a 400mm telephoto on an R5 body. The 400mm works well if he’s taking pictures of an emergency situation where he’s required by first responders to stay way back.
All the images are uploaded from the field to The Star via an FTP (internet) link. “Like, I literally never have to go into the office. But I do some of the time because there’s a lot of nice camaraderie that comes with that”. ‘Plus the office has free coffee, and it’s pretty good coffee’.
That telephoto lens has come in handy recently at soccer games. Last week Nick was along-side some veteran sports photographer colleagues, and a bunch of wire photographers at a FIFA match at Toronto Stadium, aka BMO Field. Ghana vs. Panama. Ghana won 1-0.
(BMO Field was temporarily renamed to Toronto Stadium for the World Cup.)
(Wire photographers take pictures for wire news service companies like: Associated Press, Reuters, Getty…).
I ask about the stress of shooting such an important event.
“Yeah, it was actually like way more chill for me than, shooting a regular TFC game”. I’m surprised to hear that—but between his colleagues and the wire photographers, they had everything well covered. Plus, he got some ‘frames he was really happy with’.
I sense a photojournalistic/artistic tension maybe. Art vs. craft. Everybody is watching the field, but the story is in the stands. “Yeah, I really enjoy, the focus on, you know, like, the people. It feels weird to say as a photographer. I think we all like people. Like human nature. I like finding little funny moments. When I think of my style of photography: that’s what I kind of aim for. I look for these satirical moments in everyday life”.
THE END
** You can find Nick on Instagram ( link )
** You can also find him in the pages of the Toronto Star ( link )
** You can find the author on Instagram ( link )