Hi, I’m Nicolaus!

Connecticut-based photographer and visual chronicler, capturing hidden on-the-way places and other often-overlooked moments across New England and the vast American landscape.

I think I was born to be a photographer, because I started honing my curiosity and my artistic eye from childhood, although I had no idea that was what I was doing at the time. An adventurous spirit boxed into a suburban existence in Windsor, Connecticut, I pushed the boundaries of my adolescent world in whatever ways I could. Pedaling as far as I could on my bike. Riding the bus to the end of its route. Hiking deep into the woods. During these small-scale expeditions, I developed a love of journey over destination, the road fascinating me as much (or more) than where it led. It’s also what sparked my lifelong passion for visual communication in all its forms — and inspired me to earn my Bachelor of Art in Digital Photography.

Today, I live in Connecticut and have called Hartford, West Hartford, Bloomfield, and Enfield home. Even though New England has captured my heart and my artistic imagination, the same childhood curiosity propels me to explore far and wide. Only now, I have the ability to go much further afield in search of new places, driving, flying, and hiking — and taking photos along the way. When I travel, camping are my preferred accommodations. Hauling my photography gear with me into the great outdoors offers an immersive, awe-inspiring experience of nature that the four walls of a hotel room could never replicate.

I often end up photographing unlikely subjects. Like a field with a mountain backdrop in the early light of day as the mist is burning off. Or I end up framing conventionally beautiful things, like a sunset, with unexpected elements — or without the expected ones. These sights are the rewards of close attention, and I choose them with care since they’re the images that capture my mind and imprint on my soul, far more than any planned destination at a particular time to capture something I researched online.  I often find myself asking what did everyone miss on their way to the most popular postcard vista or Instagram selfie spot? Which is why my photos are usually of lesser-known places or of lesser-known things in popular places.

If my photos inspire you to see and explore the world in a different, deeper, and freer way, then I’ve done my job.