Life Behind The Lens—Aimee Nicolas
Find Aimee on IG @aimeenicolasSEAMUS: How did you get into photography at first?
AIMEE: I think it subconsciously was embedded into my brain because of my dad. Apparently, he was a photographer but I had no idea. he passed away when I was four years old. Years later I was rummaging through my mom’s closet and found his old camera bag — five lenses, two camera bodies. 35mm film stuff. I asked my mom if i could keep it and that's when i started shooting stuff. I thought, "Wow, I could start doing this as a hobby."
So, you were pretty young when you started shooting?
Sophomore in high school. This was when Myspace was a thing, so I'd take pictures of my friends for their profiles [laughs]. But I had a lot of subjects to choose from.
A lot of your photography is portrait or fashion related. Is that how you segued into it? By shooting your friends that were into fashion?
I guess so. I think people liked the way I captured my friends—friends of friends would approach me to do a shoot and say, "I'm signed to this or that agency." And then from there, modeling agencies started to reach out to me to do test shoots. It was cool, I got a lot of experience but it got to a point where they were taking advantage because I would always do it for free. But I stopped doing that and started focusing on school. I was trying to be a nurse.
But you had graduated from Art Center, no? That wasn’t your first move?
Not initially. I wanted to be an oncologist. But I dropped out the day after I passed out in a class where we had to stick each other with needles. I fainted in the middle of class and woke up on the floor and thought, “maybe I’m not cut out for this.”
So, by the time you had gone to Art Center you had already been freelancing as a photographer for friends and agencies?
Yeah. I was doing a lot of freelance look books as well.
You were pretty established as a photographer even prior to that, then. Do you think Art Center helped you develop your craft? Or was it more about the relationships and connections you made there? A little bit of both?
Not that established, but I’d say I “had a decent amount of work experience” prior to Art Center. It was difficult. It’s such a technical school and it helped me a lot in that regard. But in terms of honing in my style — I still don’t even feel like I have one. I’m kind of all over the place.
It’s good to have a range, no doubt, but I think your portraits are really well done, really striking. I know you have subjects that aren’t necessarily people but is there something that you enjoy in particular about capturing a person’s character? As someone who isn’t a photographer, I’m curious about the interaction you have, as a photographer, as an artist with the person you’re working with.
Right, making them feel comfortable. I think as a woman, I do have an upper hand in that department. In the beginning, I worked with a lot of young models, some even had to bring their moms. All of them have told me that they were happy to see a female name on the call sheet. I'm also a really chatty and bubbly person so it helps people be more comfortable when being photographed. You can see it in someone’s face when they’re not feeling it.
Now that we're coming up on a year in lockdown, how has that affected you artistically? Has it limited you? Or do you feel like it opened up some new avenues for you?
Financially speaking, the lockdown definitely sucks. Work slowed down considerably, most sets are working at really limited capacity. But personally, it's been really nice to take a break and relax. And when I say relax I mean Hennessy and Legos. But recently I've been feeling more inspired and started working on personal projects and hobbies like guitar and painting.
Where do you get that inspiration from? What projects are you currently working on?
I hate to say it, but there's a lot of great stuff on Instagram that I pull inspiration from. I also have loads of photo-books that I pore over regularly — just to remind myself of all the great photographers that came before me and build off that. For the project I'm working on — I love thrifting, and I'm fascinated whenever I find a wedding dress in a second hand store.
Oh. That's sad.
"Discarded Devotion" [laughs]. I buy them every time I find one. Some of them look like they're not even from this century. I put them on models and shoot them.
That's brilliant. It’s an ongoing series?
I started it maybe four years ago but haven't touched it in a while. But that's the project I'm revamping in lockdown.
What's the scene like in Long Beach? I would think that you'd want to live in L.A.
Not any time soon, I love Long Beach. It's the right pace for me. There's a lot of really talented photographers here and everyone’s got their own style, it’s sick. L.A. is just too chaotic and I think people sleep on Long Beach. The photography community is small but growing. A new camera shop opened up called Relics, just recently, and it's great. Black owned, 35mm, point and shoots, 120mm, books, it’s great. I love it here.
