Meet Nick Fancher

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nick Fancher. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Nick, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I am a survival of childhood abuse. Because the abuse was such a regular part of my life, I never knew to seek help. It wasn’t until my son reached a certain age and I could see how a healthy household and family dynamic played out for him that I had a frame of reference for understanding my own childhood neglect and abuse.

For years I’d find myself fantasizing about what my life would be like had I not experienced the abuse. These exercises ultimately left me angry and immobilized. After more than a decade of therapy, medication, support groups, journaling, and countless hours spent talking with friends and loved ones, I have been able to embrace the fact that my negative experiences played a part in making me who I am today. The resilience, awareness of light (or darkness), and problem-solving skills that are so crucial in my career as an artist are skills that were born out of the abuse. Had I not experienced it, who knows who I’d be or what I’d be doing today. That’s not to say I’m grateful to have been abused, but rather to articulate that I can see how it shaped who I am today, and I can therefore make peace with it.

I can see a kindred spirit in others that had similar traumas or difficulties in their young lives. One example that comes to mind is the story of the musician and producer, Quincy Jones. He grew up in danger and poverty, and stumbled into music accidentally, after breaking into a music hall and tinkering around on the piano. Once he realized that he was good at it and could maybe even make a career out of it, he put everything he had into pursuing it, and went on to be one of the most prolific musicians of all time.

I feel the same way about my photography. It was the only thing that I knew I was good at, and so I poured everything I had into it. Everything was stacked against me: I was entering a profundly competitive industry, which was already past it’s heyday in the 90s, and on top of that I was living in Ohio, with no ability to relocate to New York or Los Angeles. I also had no money for a studio, decent lights, or even a camera. I had to open a Best Buy credit card to buy my first digital camera, which was an 8 megapixel, cropped sensor Canon. But as I had no other options, I used what was available to me. Necessity is the mother of invention.

Another person’s story I resonated with is climber Alex Honnold, who is known for his solo ascent of a 3,000 foot cliff face without a rope. No one in their right mind would even consider trying something this difficult and life-threatening, but for Alex it wasn’t much of a stretch. He grew up so scared of making friends that he found it easier to climb alone. Because of this, he eventually started climbing without ropes, and was soon climbing difficult grades. For him, it was still easier than the alternative of finding someone he could trust with his life. At least if he failed, he had no one to blame but himself.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am primarily a photographer that is known for creative portraiture, specifically in the music industry. The effects that I use in my images are all techniques that I’ve developed and are done practically, rather than in post. On top of that, I mostly work alone, and with minimal gear. This set me apart from everyone else in an industry where having a crew is standard, and post-processing a necessary element. Because my approach is so different from everyone else I have learned that I need to educate any potential new client on my process. For example, in the past I’ve had a band’s manager ask me to back down the effect in an image, and I had to explain that it was done in-camera rather than a post-processing effect, and therefore can’t be altered. Once I communicate my approach, I explain that the beauty of this approach is that every shoot is unique. Neither the subject or I know exactly what will come from a shoot, because there is an element of improvisation built into my every process.

I teach workshops a few times a year, and teach my techniques and approach to my students. They often point out how different my way of working is to how they were taught to shoot, in school. They were told to go in with a plan, and stick to it. But what happens if the plan fails? Say that someone on the crew is a no-show. Or one of the lights burns out. Or a prop gets damaged. Troubleshooting on the fly when you’re not prepared for it is much harder than making improvisation a common practice.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Give yourself permission to experiment and fail. Always reject shame. Never give up.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

They taught me self-relience in their neglect and abuse, and I learned not wait for anyone to come save me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nickfancher.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/nickfancher
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/nickfancherphoto

Image Credits

Nick Fancher