Film photography to me is a way of being still. In 2015, I experienced burnout after a career as a journalist in corporate London. I gave it all up to study an art history masters in Manchester and lead a more creative life; it was then I discovered the endless possibilities, quiet escape and magic in making photographs.
What I love the most is telling stories of people, place and community through photographs and learning about myself and my place in the world through this practice.
Black and white darkroom printing is a haven for me. It gives me a quiet, dark space to experiment and bring a lot of myself to the image, going backwards and forwards from the enlarger to the trays of chemicals, looking closely, splitting the image and adapting the light for the next try.
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2023. FORMAT International Photography Festival, Derby, UK. ‘Holi Land’.
2022. Open Eye Gallery & LOOK Climate Lab, Liverpool, UK. ‘Here Among The Trees’.
2022. Revela’t Contemporary Analog Photography Festival, Barcelona. ‘Heavy Blue Sea’.
2018. Liverpool Independents Biennial, UK. ‘Things Outlast Us’.
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BBC Sport, Photo Essay. “Our City Our People Our Heart”. May 2024.
BBC Sport, Photo Essay. “Into The Wild”. October 2023.
BBC Photo Essay. “Hadzabe: In Search of Lost Land”. November 2022.
Workhorse Collective Zine, Issue 1: The Artificial. ‘Pleasure Garden’. March 2021.
Print Magazine, Emerging Documentary Talent Issue 03. ‘California Shaping’. November 2021.
Fly on the Wall Press, Mancunian Ways Anthology. ‘Manchester Streets’. November 2020.
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July 2025. Open AIR Artist Residency. Missoula, Montana.
March 2024. Chico Review, Charcoal Book Club. Montana, US.
October 2023. NES Artist Residency. Skagaströnd, Iceland.
January 2023. Holi Hai! International Residency, Artcore Gallery. Vadodara, India.
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Syracuse University, New York
Houston Center of Photography, Texas
nikkiculleyphotographs@gmail.com
Manchester, UKPhoto credit: @linaimages