We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nikki Cox a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Nikki, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
I’ve always been someone who prioritizes preservation and storytelling. Even when I was young, I had a tendency to collect little items as a way to hold onto memories. I have a small collection of notes that my best friend and I wrote and passed in our 4th-grade class; I’ve just always been sentimental in that way. I think when I discovered photography, it opened up a whole new world within me. It gave me a way to preserve memories and tell stories—not just my own, but others’ as well. One of my missions with photography is to show people how they truly are. I like to create a space where every aspect of a person can be seen, even the parts they can’t see within themselves. Even during portrait sessions, I prefer to let the person in front of the camera pose and move naturally. I believe it is possible to capture someone’s essence in a photo, and that is my goal every time.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Photography is something that I feel found me. When I was 16, I bought a small camera on eBay and was enthralled by getting my film developed to see what I had captured. I got my first proper camera with lenses shortly after and took off from there. I was intrigued by film; with a limited number of photos, I learned how to be decisive. The fact that I couldn’t see what the photo looked like until later added to my eagerness. I was stubborn in the way I learned, determined to figure it out—trial and error was all that I did. Many of my photos were overexposed, and many were also too dark. I broke through to understanding only once my frustrations peaked and I got a book on photography with all the basics of settings to know. A few years after high school, I decided to give photography a chance as more than a passion. So I delved into finding my footing to make it my profession. My favorite subject will always be people, and so these days I mostly work with musicians, helping with press photos and covers for new music. Music is such a big part of me as well, so this avenue of photography aligns well with who I am. I love coming together with musicians to extend the vision of their art. I still work a lot on creating my personal body of work, and I am currently working on creating an exhibition. Overall, photography is much more to me than work; it is a part of me that feels necessary. It is hard to envision my life without it.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I think the most rewarding thing about being an artist is how your art can change you. When you allow yourself to be curious and keep your mind open, your art can teach you. Photography has taught me how to be bold; I will approach strangers and ask if I can photograph them. It has taught me patience (whether or not I wanted to) through the countless mistakes I’ve made along the way to improving my photos. For me, photography has given me the chance to see other people—really see them—and allow them to feel free, even in the presence of a camera. I think the younger version of me couldn’t have imagined the places photography would take me. I mean that in a literal way, like the travels I’ve taken and the photos that have come from them. I also mean it in a personal way; it has fully transformed the person I have become—or rather, the person I am becoming. I can only imagine that life will take me into more uncharted territory, and that photography will be my trusty companion, holding my hand along the way.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Something that I am trying to unlearn is not sitting in thought too long before taking action. I think the fear of what will happen if I actually do something and show it to the world, and how it will be received, sometimes keeps me stagnant. I will daydream about a project or write out my goals in my journal, where they will stay for quite some time. I am more understanding now that art must be made; it needs to have somewhere to go. I believe art is so important, and it’s imperative that, as an artist, you allow your art to come into existence. There is a low-grade feeling of betrayal when I abandon an idea before it gets the chance to grow into something more. I also realize that you don’t have to put immense pressure on a creation to make it something huge. With social media, it’s common to feel like you need to create the next viral thing to gain opportunities or for your work to be considered important. I feel more now that everything you make in pursuit of allowing your art to be created is valuable; finishing something is important. We all have ideas, so what will we do with them?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nikki-cox.com
- Instagram: @strwbrryhip
