Niko is a French film director and photographer based in Provence and working in Paris. After studying cinema he quickly became a VFX supervisor for music videos and commercials. He collaborated with directors from all over the world before becoming one himself. In 2001 he co-founded Nobrain, a directing quatuor that became a trio. Nobrain directed more than 50 commercials and 15 music videos, winning many awards. Niko’s short animation film « the Gloaming » was shortlisted for Oscars and Cesars and won many awards around the world.
For 7 years Niko developed personal creations through aerial photography. The passion erupted during a trip in Iceland where he discovered aerial photography and specifically absolute vertical photography.
Removing the perspective can give a landscape the opportunity to become a painting and this was the starting point of a hunt in every landscape that crossed his way.
"This photo marks the inception of my photographic journey.
While traversing the captivating landscapes of Iceland, we found ourselves at the base of a glacier site on a day marred by relentless rain. Stranded in our car, the weather took an unexpected turn, granting us a brief respite of around 20 minutes. Seizing the opportunity, we reveled in the majestic vista of the glacier cascading through the mountains.
Inspired, I decided to capture the essence with my camera, elevating it to hover above the glacier. As I gazed upon the surreal landscape, a spontaneous twist occurred—I rotated the camera precisely by 90 degrees.
In that moment, everything transformed. My focus shifted from filming to an appreciation of the altered perspective, turning the natural panorama into a living painting. Aware that my artistic inclination might be misunderstood, I embraced the realization that this was a personal exploration worth undertaking."
"The second picture i took during the same 20 minutes was challenging for the future. I discovered the incredible texture icebergs could get depending of the life they had. I ,thought there was an alegory into this. You are the fruit of what you experienced during your life time. What some can express taking a portrait, i could found it in a lanbdscape. He made me think ... a landscape has much more to tell than we think."
« Working in VFX most of the time i somehow realized that my photography adventure needed to be the exact opposite. Even if I use some sort of technology to grab my « photo-paintings » into nature, this time VFX will find me. The pictures are taken in a unique ratio format, the framing is the original one. The painting must be exactly what i saw. »
« When you love painting like I do and you deeply know you will never be good at any of it, you have to find your own way. Directing films is my deepest passion but you hardly make films on your own. It's a team creation (and we are three directors....) . So i needed to find something i could create alone. And didn't found it, was not even looking for it to be honest.. It was just floating somewhere in the back of my head. It found me. It started with this unique 90° angle. You are watching earth but perspective aside, it become something else. Earth is a unbelievable gift and when sometimes the composition pops up in front of your eyes, you feel so proud to be the first to witness it. That was not my choice but it became a quest.
In contact with the audience, my best reward is when i have to explain to people they are looking at photography, not paintings. ».
"Starting my very first exibitions with my fellow artists from Art Lacoste ( I love you guys), i started to become a bit jalous of the sculptors. Why should i be stuck to a wall when they can be placed anywhere they like in the room ? The plexi block was the first step to free myself from the wall."
"What I enjoy during exhibitions is being able to bring together in the same space landscapes that are extremely different and far away from each others. For me, they are most often the result of chance, of an encounter. It gives me more the impression of exhibiting discoveries than creations."
"But the aftermath of this is that i have to step out of the wood. Show myself, talk about my work.. My closest ones, they know ... Even when i am loud my only goal is to diseapear. But if i want to share the emotion of my discovery, i have to step into the light. After all, a landscape can only hide at night, when the moon is off."
So Be it.
