A picture is worth a thousand words, which is why when you get a group of them together – man, what a story you’ve got.
The business of storytelling is at the heart of every creative piece of artwork you will ever see – the artist certainly has a story as to why he or she created what they did – for else why would they spend the time?
I just returned from a trip to Philadelphia and a visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The statue of Rocky sits near the bottom of the steps to this iconic building, but inside there’s a powerhouse of an exhibit, taking your eyes deep into the vision of wild animals (and some people) captured on film by legendary photographer #MichaelNichols, as focused a storyteller as you will ever meet.
Through the magic of #MichaelNichols’ lens you can peer endlessly into the pain, joy and loneliness of gorillas and monkeys, from some of the most remote places on earth. For three decades “Nick’s” camera lens has captured photographs which not only evoke emotion, but action as well, to bring awareness to the fragility of the wild spaces most humans will never encounter, but at the same time, which make us reconsider humankind’s complex, and often brutal, relationship with the wild.
Every time Nichols’ shutter goes off, another word is written in this visual tapestry of nature and animal life in harmony. The animal world is perfect. Perfect order, perfect synergy, perfect hierarchy of power. It is man who interrupts this perfection when he gets greedy and wants to harness a piece of this animal power, or brutally tortures them for testing, to make human life better. The irony is when we borrow life from an otherwise perfect species, we taint our own humanity, creating a world for ourselves which is far less than perfect, it becomes unethical and scarred. Animals reach their potential every day on this earth, why can’t we as humans do that on our own?
Nichols reminds us that the animals, like the lion who will forever reign as king, can be our greatest teachers. His pictures and work with #JaneGoodall, prove to us that when handled properly, man and beast can live in near perfect harmony. Show respect and what will be given in return is trust and love, life’s greatest rewards for man or beast.
Walking through the #WILD exhibit with headphones on and hearing stories at every turn of how Nichols’ managed to capture such timeless images – is enough to make you sincerely appreciate the depth and life mission of a man using his talent to teach the world a story – brought to life in photograph after photograph.
Nichols conveys the story of how he managed to acquire such amazing pictures in a way that is as rich as the images themselves. His business might be art, but it’s the story behind the art which makes many a museum patron simply go wild with awe and inspiration.
Nichols might never admit his business is truly storytelling, he’s an artist and an activist, but I for one am #WILD enough to say it for him – he’s a storyteller.
Thanks ” Nick” for sharing the story of your life’s work with the world.
Your Storyteller,
Mark Brodinsky
Need Storytelling for your business? markbrodinsky@gmail.com /443-865-2795/www.linkedin.com/in/markbrodinsky
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