Jimmy Nelson

Career

Jimmy Nelson was born in 1967 in the United Kingdom. He lives and works in the Netherlands. 

Visual Style

Jimmy Nelson began his career as a pho­tog­ra­pher in 1987. After spend­ing ten years with the Jesuits in England, he set out alone on a year-​long jour­ney across Tibet on foot. Upon his return, he pub­lished a jour­nal fea­tur­ing remark­able images, which brought him his first major success. 

Major Series and Works

He then went on to cover major inter­na­tional con­flicts for the press. In 1994, after spend­ing 40 months in China, he pub­lished Literary Portraits of China, fol­lowed by a major inter­na­tional exhi­bi­tion.
From 1997 onward, Jimmy Nelson was com­mis­sioned by lead­ing brands to cre­ate adver­tis­ing campaigns.

Recognition

Between 2010 and 2014, he trav­eled around the world meet­ing more than thirty eth­nic com­mu­ni­ties threat­ened with extinc­tion. Upon his return, he pub­lished his renowned book Before They Pass Away. Four years later, in 2018, he released his new work Homage to Humanity.

Reading the Work

Jimmy Nelson’s work finds its bal­ance in a spec­tac­u­lar, cer­e­mo­nial, and highly com­posed style of pho­tog­ra­phy focused on iden­ti­ties, cos­tumes, rit­u­als, and land­scapes. It is dis­tin­guished by its visual power, an acces­si­ble anthro­po­log­i­cal dimen­sion, and a rare abil­ity to cre­ate iconic col­lec­tive imagery. Interpreting his pho­tographs ben­e­fits from atten­tion to nuance: a com­po­si­tional detail, a par­tic­u­lar dis­tance from the sub­ject, a qual­ity of light, or a tex­ture often reveals deeper lay­ers of meaning.