Paul Nicklen

Aliases: Paul Nicklin (occasional misspelling in Wetpixel articles)
Role: Wildlife and nature photographer, filmmaker, conservationist
Affiliation: National Geographic, Sea Legacy (co-founder), International Photography Hall of Fame
First appearance: 2007 (Wetpixel coverage of Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

Biography

Paul Nicklen is a Canadian wildlife and nature photographer, filmmaker, and ocean conservationist best known for more than two decades of work documenting Arctic and Antarctic ecosystems for National Geographic. He is internationally recognized for his intimate portrayals of polar wildlife and his advocacy for ocean and climate conservation. ([1])

Nicklen co-founded Sea Legacy, an environmental conservation organization focused on ocean protection through visual storytelling. Sea Legacy’s stated mission is to use “visual storytelling to turn the tide on the future of our marine ecosystems,” partnering with organizations to “produce compelling imagery and turn-key communications tools that will engage audiences, propel existing campaigns, and help further the causes shared with our partners.” ([2])

He is an inductee of the International Photography Hall of Fame. ([3])

Nicklen is regarded by his peers as operating at the highest level of wildlife photography. Forum member ehanauer described him as “at the top of the pyramid,” while Adam Hanlon praised his technical mastery, noting of one award-winning image: “Who of us would think to use these settings underwater? 1/1000 sec at f7.1; ISO 500. That is why Paul is a master of his craft.” ([4]) ([5]) Marty Snyderman listed Nicklen alongside Brian Skerry, David Doubilet, and Howard Hall as photographers whose work he studies and admires. ([6])

Nicklen is also known to use Photo Mechanic as part of his professional workflow for importing, sorting, and renaming large volumes of RAW files. Stephen Frink publicly noted this in a Facebook post quoted by Wetpixel: “I know you depend on it as well Paul Nicklen.” ([7])

The Leopard Seal Encounter

Nicklen is widely known for a remarkable four-day encounter with a large female leopard seal in Antarctica. During a National Geographic assignment, the seal repeatedly attempted to feed him penguins — apparently treating the photographer as an incompetent predator in need of help. Eric Cheng described it as “truly the once-in-a-lifetime encounter that every serious wildlife photographer hopes to have one day.” ([8])

The encounter became one of the most shared stories in underwater photography. A short video interview about it was first posted on Wetpixel in November 2009, generating 13 comments. The story was revisited in a 2013 Wetpixel article and became the centerpiece of his 2017 NPR Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross, where Nicklen spoke with remarkable candor about the emotional impact:

“I definitely fell in love with this seal. It’s embarrassing to admit this to you. … I’d fall asleep at night with tears coming down my cheeks. … I was just so grateful, just to spend your life out with animals and to be fighting to get yourself into a situation where you can try and get close, where you can try and even get within 100 meters of something. And all of a sudden here’s a top predator, and not only are you getting to see it, it’s interacting with you; it’s trying to force-feed you penguins, it’s trying to take care of you. It’s a very very humbling thing.” ([9])

Stephen Frink noted in a Wetpixel comment that Nicklen “was very gracious, passionate, and engaging” in his own interview for Alert Diver magazine around the same period. ([10])

A Wetpixel forum thread about the leopard seal story drew 13 replies of admiration, with users calling his images “stunning” and “way ahead of anyone else out there today.” Forum member davehicks recommended attending Nicklen’s National Geographic Live speaker series presentations. ([11])

Key Works

eBook: Photographing Wild (2016)

A 200-page downloadable ebook published through Craft & Vision, titled Photographing Wild: Techniques of a National Geographic Photographer. The book describes 16 ways to make stronger photographs and features contributions from colleagues including Jimmy Chin, David Doubilet, and Brent Stirton. Forty percent of proceeds went to Sea Legacy. Released September 2016 at an introductory price of $10. ([12])

RED Collective Film (2017)

The RED Collective (Red Digital Cinema) featured Nicklen in a short film about his approach and philosophy to filmmaking and photography, and how this connects to his conservation work with Sea Legacy. In the film, Nicklen described the joy of his sea lion encounters: “The hardest part is to be able to shoot through a mask that has been flooded because you are laughing so hard because you are having one of the greatest experiences of your life.” ([13])

Sea Legacy: The Thin Blue Line (2015)

Sea Legacy produced a video entitled “The Thin Blue Line” featuring the photography and commentary of Nicklen alongside David Doubilet, Brian Skerry, and Cristina Mittermeier. ([14])

Competition Awards

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Nicklen was a consistent presence at the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition:

Ocean Photographer of the Year

Nicklen served as a judge on the Ocean Photography Awards / Ocean Photographer of the Year competition from its inception in 2020 through at least 2022, alongside fellow judges Cristina Mittermeier, Shawn Heinrichs, Andy Mann, and others. The competition was produced by Oceanographic Magazine in partnership with Sea Legacy. ([18]) ([19]) ([20]) In 2022, David Doubilet joined the judging panel alongside Nicklen. ([21])

Conservation

Nicklen’s photography and filmmaking are inseparable from his conservation advocacy. His work focuses on the fragility of polar ecosystems and the impact of climate change on sea ice habitats — themes running through his National Geographic assignments, Sea Legacy, and his public appearances.

In the 2017 NPR Fresh Air interview, he spoke about climate change’s impact on sea ice, the emotional dimensions of polar photography, and the connection between his personal encounters with wildlife and the urgency of ocean conservation. ([22])

In 2017, Nicklen contributed a shark image to Wetpixel’s “Wall of Sharks” tribute to Rob Stewart, the filmmaker and shark advocate who died in a diving accident in January 2017. The tribute featured shark imagery from photographers worldwide. ([23])

Timeline

References

Sources

  1. Wetpixel article, Jun 7, 2017: Interview With Underwater Photographer Paul Nicklen On Nprs Fresh Air ↩
  2. Wetpixel article, Sep 7, 2015: Video The Thin Blue Line ↩
  3. Wetpixel article, Apr 13, 2020: Call For Entries Ocean Photography Awards ↩
  4. Forum thread: Paul Nicklen Of Ng Diving With Leopard Seals ↩
  5. Wetpixel article, Oct 18, 2012: Results Wildife Photographer Of The Year ↩
  6. Wetpixel article, Feb 26, 2017: Interview With Marty Snyderman ↩
  7. Wetpixel article, Oct 17, 2015: Lightroom Update Adobe To Restore Import Dialog ↩
  8. Wetpixel article, Nov 15, 2009: Paul Nicklens Leopard Seal Story Antarctica ↩
  9. Wetpixel article, Jun 7, 2017: Interview With Underwater Photographer Paul Nicklen On Nprs Fresh Air ↩
  10. Wetpixel article, Nov 15, 2009: Paul Nicklens Leopard Seal Story Antarctica ↩
  11. Forum thread: Paul Nicklen Of Ng Diving With Leopard Seals ↩
  12. Wetpixel article, Sep 22, 2016: National Geographic Photographer Paul Nicklen Releases Ebook ↩
  13. Wetpixel article, Apr 26, 2017: Video Paul Nicklen By The Red Collective ↩
  14. Wetpixel article, Sep 7, 2015: Video The Thin Blue Line ↩
  15. Wetpixel article, Oct 25, 2007: Shell Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2007 ↩
  16. Wetpixel article, Oct 22, 2009: Bbc Wildlife Photographer Of The Year Winners For 2009 Announced ↩
  17. Wetpixel article, Oct 18, 2012: Results Wildife Photographer Of The Year ↩
  18. Wetpixel article, Apr 13, 2020: Call For Entries Ocean Photography Awards ↩
  19. Wetpixel article, Jul 23, 2021: Final Call Ocean Photography Awards 2021 ↩
  20. Wetpixel article, Jun 27, 2022: Final Call Ocean Photographer Of The Year ↩
  21. Wetpixel article, Oct 4, 2022: Results Ocean Photographer Of The Year 2022 ↩
  22. Wetpixel article, Jun 7, 2017: Interview With Underwater Photographer Paul Nicklen On Nprs Fresh Air ↩
  23. Wetpixel article, Feb 20, 2017: Full Frame A Wall Of Sharks As A Tribute To Rob Stewart Part 2 ↩
  24. Wetpixel article, Oct 25, 2007: Shell Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2007 ↩
  25. Wetpixel article, Oct 22, 2009: Bbc Wildlife Photographer Of The Year Winners For 2009 Announced ↩
  26. Wetpixel article, Nov 15, 2009: Paul Nicklens Leopard Seal Story Antarctica ↩
  27. Forum thread: Paul Nicklen Of Ng Diving With Leopard Seals ↩
  28. Wetpixel article, Oct 18, 2012: Results Wildife Photographer Of The Year ↩
  29. Wetpixel article, Sep 11, 2013: Ng Photographer Paul Nicklen And The Leopard Seal ↩
  30. Wetpixel article, Sep 7, 2015: Video The Thin Blue Line ↩
  31. Wetpixel article, Sep 22, 2016: National Geographic Photographer Paul Nicklen Releases Ebook ↩
  32. Wetpixel article, Feb 20, 2017: Full Frame A Wall Of Sharks As A Tribute To Rob Stewart Part 2 ↩
  33. Wetpixel article, Apr 26, 2017: Video Paul Nicklen By The Red Collective ↩
  34. Wetpixel article, Jun 7, 2017: Interview With Underwater Photographer Paul Nicklen On Nprs Fresh Air ↩
  35. Wetpixel article, Apr 13, 2020: Call For Entries Ocean Photography Awards ↩
  36. Wetpixel article, Jul 23, 2021: Final Call Ocean Photography Awards 2021 ↩
  37. Wetpixel article, Jun 27, 2022: Final Call Ocean Photographer Of The Year ↩
  38. Wetpixel article, Oct 4, 2022: Results Ocean Photographer Of The Year 2022 ↩
  39. Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2007 (article) ↩
  40. BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners for 2009 announced (article) ↩
  41. Paul Nicklen’s leopard seal story, Antarctica (article) ↩
  42. Results: Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2012 (article) ↩
  43. NG photographer Paul Nicklen and the leopard seal (article) ↩
  44. Video: The Thin Blue Line (article) ↩
  45. Lightroom update: Adobe to restore import dialog (article) ↩
  46. National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen releases eBook (article) ↩
  47. Full Frame: A Wall of Sharks as a Tribute to Rob Stewart — Part 2 (article) ↩
  48. Interview with Marty Snyderman (article) ↩
  49. Video: Paul Nicklen by the RED Collective (article) ↩
  50. Interview with Paul Nicklen on NPR’s Fresh Air (article) ↩
  51. Call for entries: Ocean Photography Awards (article) ↩
  52. Final Call: Ocean Photography Awards 2021 (article) ↩
  53. Final Call: Ocean Photographer of the Year 2022 (article) ↩
  54. Results: Ocean Photographer of the Year 2022 (article) ↩
  55. Paul Nicklen of NG Diving with Leopard Seals (forum) ↩