2019: 7 (LAX)

I spent a good part of this week in Los Angeles for work. More specifically, I spent three days at LAX. It turned out to be a good place to let the lens of my iPhone wander. There is a nice geometry to the airport, which serves as interesting backdrop to the parade of thousands of people heading off to wherever they may be jetting off to.

Other things are on the horizon. I am putting the finishing touches on two (!) new self-publishing projects. Look for a “one, two” punch of new work coming very, very soon. As is the usual case, I’m keeping my cards close to the vest, but more will be revealed soon, including a special offer for my email subscribers (which you should sign up for…)

"Rodeo Nights" New Book and Solo Exhibition

I’m very excited to share my newest project, and it’s a double whammy of great news. First off…I am now taking pre-orders for my newest self-publishing effort, “Rodeo Nights.” The book is 60 pages, self cover, perfect bound. It features gritty black and white photographs from the rodeo at the New Mexico State Fair. I shot the images over the span of four years. It’s a no holds barred look behind the scenes of the rough and tumble world of rodeo, as only a self-proclaimed "city slicker" can see it. I’m setting this up as a pre-order: purchase now to ensure a mid-December delivery. You can get all the sale details by clicking this link to get to my online store.

Part 2 of this announcement is something I am really proud to reveal. The “Rodeo Nights” release coincides with my first international solo exhibition, coming in December at the Magazzini Fotografici in Naples, Italy. I’m hoping that all sales of the book will help offset the cost of traveling to Italy for the opening of the exhibition on December 21st. I will most certainly be sharing more details about the show as the date gets closer, but I am thrilled beyond belief to have the opportunity to show my work in the country of my familial roots. I hope you will consider supporting me by purchasing the book, and thank you in advance for helping me continue the pursuit my photographic dreams.

Rodeo Nights is heading to Naples, Italy!

"Beloved: The Cabin Sessions" New book available now

I am very pleased to announce the release of my new photo book. It is a collaboration with my good friend David Garcia, a wonderful Albuquerque musician and his band, Beloved. The book is a visual interpretation of David's songs. There is a common theme of hope, loss, love and wanderlust between the songs and the photographs. My images are the result of wanderings in the American deserts of Arizona, California, and New Mexico. The book is 8 inch square, 58 pages, soft cover, perfect bound. I have a limited number available for purchase at my online shop starting today. Each book comes with a copy of the Beloved CD release. Get yours today by clicking on this link.

I've also created a new gallery on my website that features the photos I created for the joint project. Check them out here.

Creative Collaboration: The Cabin Sessions

I'm really excited to announce the imminent release of my next photo publishing project. The soon to be available book is titled "Beloved: The Cabin Sessions." My good friend David Garcia has assembled Beloved; a tight and talented circle of New Mexico musicians to help create his first musical release. I am honored that David has asked me to collaborate on all the visual components for the upcoming release. This includes CD and vinyl LP artwork, which is cool all by itself. The release will also include a book of my photographs, that are combined with the lyrics of David's amazing songs. We are awaiting the release of our deluxe edition 12" square, hardcover bound book. It contains 54 pages of images and words, and it is the result of a wonderful collaboration between myself and David. He has given me full creative freedom to not only choose the photos, but also to layout the book. My art is featured prominently throughout, and some of my "behind the scenes" photos of the band's recording sessions are featured as well. David will have a limited number of the hardcover book for sale, starting at the album release show on February 3rd here in Albuquerque. We are also producing a lower cost, 8" square, soft cover version of the book, which I will have copies available to purchase on my online shop after the launch gig.

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I can't stress enough the value of print on demand platforms like Blurb and MagCloud. They have allowed me to create this amazing project, with David's help, in a very timely and cost effective manner. The quality of the printed pieces, especially the hardcover book, are truly impressive. We took inspiration from an "art" book Wilco released a few years back. The idea was to have my photographs match tangentially to David's lyrics. There is so much common ground between his words and my images. The American West, the long lonely highways, dreams of hope, and the realities of loss... all factor into the resulting book. The cover design is also a nod to U2's "Achtung Baby" album, which might go without saying if you are familiar with that iconic album. 

The power of collaborating with like-minded creatives, regardless of their area of expression, cannot be stressed enough. Sometimes we need to crawl from our solitary creative cocoon to produce our art. The sum is indeed greater than the parts.

Faith and Devotion 'zine

2017 has been a very productive year for me, creatively speaking. One of the areas I've been focussing has been self-publishing. With the availability and affordability of print-on-demand services like Magcloud and Blurb, anyone (yes...even you!) can easily publish their own book or magazine. The project I'm discussing here is a series of photos I created in 2015, while on a residency in Portugal. The town of Fatima is a well-known Catholic pilgrimage site. It is also a location rife with photo opportunities. I was happy to have spent a few days shooting there, and the series of images have finally ended up in printed form. I worked on the images and sequencing much longer than on any other recent project, and I am very satisfied with the final result. As I have been very fortunate with the support I've already received for my self-publications, I have been marketing the Fatima 'zines in a much more subdued manner. However, if you would like to order one, I do have a handful of copies available in my online shop. And since I realize many folks would like to see some samples of the zine before considering a purchase, I'm sharing some spreads below. As 2017 draws to a close, I am glad to be able to put this project out into the world, since I have several new projects already brewing for 2018.

Print is (not) Dead. Long Live Print.

"Hi, my name is Nick, and I'm a printaholic..."

Yes, it's true, I am addicted to print. Specifically, printed photographs, whether it's in a frame on the wall, received as a postcard in the mail, in a book or in a zine... I love it all. And lately, as many of you know, I've been bitten by the self-publishing bug. With online, print on demand options like Magcloud or Blurb, a self-published book or zine is just a few clicks away. I find that the format is a perfect way to get my work out in the world, in a real, tangible way. Photographs were always meant to be seen in print. It's only recently, with our digital existence taking over every aspect of previously actual, physical content, that photos are mostly seen on a screen; be it desktop or mobile. Hey, I'm no Luddite. I often shoot with a DSLR or my iPhone, listen to Spotify all day long, stare at Instagram and Facebook far too much, and share work right here on my website on a regular basis. But something gets lost when we just see photos on a backlit screen. Photographs deserve more permanence. I realize that most folks can't afford dropping $50 to $150(or more) for a framed photograph, but a $10 - 15 zine or book is well within reach for a much larger audience. And of course the benefits of a printed publication allows the viewer to engage with your work many more times than a gallery show would ever provide. I am grateful for the support I've gotten from many friends and followers for my own self-published works, and (teaser alert, see above) there are more printed pieces to come in the near future. In the meantime, I'd also like to take a moment to recognize the work of some print obsessed self-publishers I've been following and collecting myself. Their work is well-worth the time and money to support.

Justin Thor Simenson

Daniel Milnor

Hean Kuan Ong

Nate Matos

Michael Ast

Beyond Words, Beyond Expectations

Sometimes it takes a while to realize that you have made a good choice in your life's direction. Over two years ago, I decided to take my personal photography more seriously. One thing that I always dreamed of doing, but never had the guts to attempt, was an artist residency. So, in early 2015, I mustered the courage to apply for an opportunity to spend a month in the city of Porto, Portugal. My focus on Portugal was partly due to my connection with fellow photographer, Fabio Miguel Roque. He is based in Sintra, just outside of the capital of Lisbon. We are both members of the Latent Image Collective, and though we had never met in person, I was excited to finally connect and spend some time shooting together. Long story short, I was invited for a residency at De Liceiras 18, and spent a month focussing on my personal photographic work. I also spent two days shooting with Fábio, and our creative bonds deepened as a result. 

Fast forward to October 2016. Fábio and I were looking for a project to collaborate on long-distance. We devised a plan to shoot simultaneously for 24 hours, each of us taking a solo, photographic road trip, each wandering without a set plan into the desert near our homes. We would share the results of the trip in a joint publication. We released the book "Beyond / Além" last year, and hoped that we could one day exhibit the work. That hope will be realized this weekend in Évora, Portugal.
 

I am so thrilled to be able to share the walls of a gallery with my friend and collaborator, and it stands as a tangible manifestation of the idea we had months ago. What is even more meaningful to me is that first step I took outside of my comfort zone, the decision to travel to Portugal in the first place, has reaped so many benefits for me personally and creatively.

The show opens this Saturday at the Palácio de D. Manuel in Évora. I received the text from the program, that was written by Eduardo Luciano, Councilor for Culture of the Municipality of Évora. I'd like to share it here, as it is an insightful analysis of the work that Fábio and I created. I am honored and humbled by these words.

“Only art could unite two realities that are two thousand kilometers away, and yet they feel so close. From these images we can perceive that the ocean that separates is, above all, the ocean that also unites us, just as the bridge that we share may be the element we need to overcome and to reach the other. The aridity, the loneliness, the paths that the work of these two photographers explore, seem to go nowhere. Yet, there have the common features: the existence of humans, both in the American desert and in the Alentejo. We look at the two realities from a point so far and yet so close, via the sensitivity of these two artists.

This exhibition is a challenge of reading reality, above prejudices and against prejudices. In a world where the unknown is the engine of our fear and in which there is a growing temptation to mortgage freedom on behalf of a false security, Fábio Miguel Roque and Nick Tauro Jr. show us, in an impressive way, the deep similarities that bind us.

The Municipality of Évora could not fail to accept and promote this universalist approach to space, as it explores the aesthetic convergence of two naturally divergent environments. It is our duty, as a public service, to promote unrest, stave off the doldrums, question certainties, and discuss the unknown. Without fear and knowing that the “invisible city”, that Italo Calvino brilliantly put into the words of Marco Polo, it will be whenever our imagination allows.

Welcome to the journey, welcome to the paths that lead us to the “other” landscape. So that the difficulty of finding it is not as difficult as José Samarago enunciated in his speech before accepting the Nobel Prize, “one arrives more easily at Mars than at our own fellow human.” Perhaps art is the map that enables the trip to the universe of the other, and is more pleasant and shorter than the hypothetical arrival to Mars.”

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Click on the images above to see the program from the exhibit.

Shifter: Dispatches

Very excited to share a recorded conversation I recently had with Daniel Milnor for his photography / self-publishing website SHIFTER.MEDIA.  Daniel is a great writer, photographer, and all-around creative evangelist. I am flattered that he invited me up to his Santa Fe outpost for a chat. If you want to spend an hour climbing into my brain, give this a listen. Special bonus, you get to hear my atrocious Werner Herzog imitation!

Here is the link: DISPATCHES: NICK TAURO JR.

Flaunt The Imperfections

I am pleased to announce the launch of a new 'zine series called "Flaunt The Imperfections." The premier issue features my work, shot over an extended period of time in early 2017, mostly in the area of Marfa, Texas and the environs of New Mexico. All photographs were shot on film, and the resulting images highlight the grain, textures, and "flaws" inherent in the medium. It is a 32 page, 8 inch square, perfect bound publication.

It is my intention for this 'zine to be published several times a year. I plan to retain the design and layout duties, but will use this as a platform for collaborations with other photographers shooting on film. The price of the new 'zine is $12.50 (plus shipping) and is ONLY available for purchase through MagCloud. Click the link below to make your purchase today.

Flaunt The Imperfections: Issue 1

The premier issue of a new 'zine series, featuring the work of Nick Tauro Jr. This publication celebrates the grain, textures and intrinsic imperfections found in film-based photography.

New York City Reflections

Just returned from a week in The Big Apple. A place I know so well, and yet I am always surprised by when I return for a visit. I shot with one camera, and one lens for the entire week, and I am super excited by the results. A new zine or book project feels imminent. Stay tuned.