Self-portraits

The artist turns the camera on himself, offering unflinching and close-up views of his face, hands, neck, and chest, visibly marked by time.

Black-and-white close-up photographic portrait of a man's eye and nose

Black-and-white close-up photograph of beard hairs around a mouth

Black-and-white close-up photograph of a man pulling down his lower eyelid

Black-and-white close-up photograph of the stubble and beard around the chin and neck

Black-and-white close-up photograph of the buttons of a shirt

Black-and-white close-up photograph of an open eye

Black-and-white close-up photograph of an ear

Black-and-white close-up photograph of a side-ways cast eye and nose

Black-and-white close-up photograph of the tip of a nose

Black-and-white close-up photograph of of the inner base of three fingers, one wearing a ring

Self-portraits

The artist turns the camera on himself, offering unflinching and close-up views of his face, hands, neck, and chest, visibly marked by time.

Nicholas NixonSelf (02), Brookline

2008

gelatin silver contact print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [36.5 x 27.9 cm]

Nicholas NixonSelf (11), Brookline

2008

gelatin silver contact print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [36.5 x 27.9 cm]

Nicholas NixonSelf (04), Brookline

2008

gelatin silver contact print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [36.5 x 27.9 cm]

Nicholas NixonSelf (03), Brookline

2008

gelatin silver contact print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [36.5 x 27.9 cm]

Nicholas NixonSelf (19), Brookline

2009

gelatin silver contact print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [36.5 x 27.9 cm]

Nicholas NixonSelf (09), Brookline

2008

gelatin silver contact print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [36.5 x 27.9 cm]

Nicholas NixonSelf (32), Brookline

2009

gelatin silver contact print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [36.5 x 27.9 cm]

Nicholas NixonSelf (22), Brookline

2009

gelatin silver contact print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [36.5 x 27.9 cm]

Nicholas NixonSelf (28), Brookline

2009

gelatin silver contact print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [36.5 x 27.9 cm]

Nicholas NixonSelf (27), Brookline

2009

gelatin silver contact print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [36.5 x 27.9 cm]

Black and white photograph of four women standing shoulder to shoulder in a garden

Nicholas Nixon: The Brown Sisters

Begun in 1975, this annual portrait series shows the artist’s wife and her three sisters. Seen together, the series is a deeply moving portrait of family, connection, and time.

Black-and-white photographic portrait of four young women with long hair standing in front of a clapboard wall — Nicholas Nixon, The Brown Sisters, Harwichport, Massachusetts, 1978

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photographic portrait of four young women seated outdoors on grass — Nicholas Nixon, The Brown Sisters, Cincinnati, 1981

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photographic portrait of four young women dressed in sweaters standing under a cloudy sky — Nicholas Nixon, The Brown Sisters, Ipswich, Massachusetts, 1982

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photographic portrait of four young women standing on a sunny beach with the ocean on the horizon — Nicholas Nixon, The Brown Sisters, Truro, Massachusetts, 1984

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photographic portrait of four women standing looking slightly down at the viewer — Nicholas Nixon, The Brown Sisters, Watertown, Massachusetts, 1991

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photographic portrait of four women with arms around each other standing in front of a blank wall — Nicholas Nixon, The Brown Sisters, Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts, 1997

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photographic portrait of four women standing outside — Nicholas Nixon, The Brown Sisters, Brookline, Massachusetts, 1999

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photographic portrait of four middle-aged women with two looking into the distance and two looking at the viewer — Nicholas Nixon, The Brown Sisters, Truro, Massachusetts, 2011

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photographic portrait of four older women with their arms around each other standing in front of a curtained window — Nicholas Nixon, The Brown Sisters, Brookline, Massachusetts, 2018

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonThe Brown Sisters

1975

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonThe Brown Sisters, Harwichport, Massachusetts

1978

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonThe Brown Sisters, Cincinnati

1981

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonThe Brown Sisters, Ipswich, Massachusetts

1982

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonThe Brown Sisters, Truro, Massachusetts

1984

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonThe Brown Sisters, Watertown, Massachusetts

1991

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonThe Brown Sisters, Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts

1997

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonThe Brown Sisters, Brookline, Massachusetts

1999

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonThe Brown Sisters, Truro, Massachusetts

2011

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonThe Brown Sisters, Brookline, Massachusetts

2018

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a city intersection in winter with a rooftop garage and smokestacks

Nicholas Nixon: New Topographics

These images of the vast cityscapes of New York and Boston, at once both ordered and chaotic, were part of one of the most influential exhibitions of the seventies, New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape at the George Eastman House.

Black-and-white photograph of a city skyline with high rise buildings scattered throughout the landscape — Nicholas Nixon, View of Boston from Commercial Wharf, 1975

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a highway and surrounding neighborhoods at midday under a clear sky — Nicholas Nixon, Southeast View of the Fenway Area, Boston, 1975

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a Greco-Roman style building with a domed roof amid modern city high rise buildings — Nicholas Nixon, View of Mother Church and Christian Science Center, Boston, 1975

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a curved building amid taller rectangular high-rise buildings — Nicholas Nixon, View of Center Plaza and Suffolk County Courthouse, Boston, 1975

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a large church set behind an open plaza amid modern city high-rise buildings — Nicholas Nixon, View of Copley Square, Boston, 1974

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a low rise industrial neighborhood and a wharf on a river — Nicholas Nixon, View of North End and Wharf Area, Boston, 1975

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a highway bridge crossing a river next to a Coca-Cola plant — Nicholas Nixon, View of Cambridge from Memorial Drive, Cambridge, 1975

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photograph at the corner of a low square building with rounded arch windows — Nicholas Nixon, View of Boston Public Library, 1974

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a rectangular glass high-rise building rising above surrounding city buildings — Nicholas Nixon, View north from the Prudential Building, Boston, 1975

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonView of Turnpike Entrance, Boston

1976

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonView of Boston from Commercial Wharf

1975

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonSoutheast View of the Fenway Area, Boston

1975

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonView of Mother Church and Christian Science Center, Boston

1975

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonView of Center Plaza and Suffolk County Courthouse, Boston

1975

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonView of Copley Square, Boston

1974

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonView of North End and Wharf Area, Boston

1975

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonView of Cambridge from Memorial Drive, Cambridge

1975

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonView of Boston Public Library

1974

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Nicholas NixonView north from the Prudential Building, Boston

1975

gelatin silver contact print, 8 x 10 inches (sheet) [20.3 x 25.4 cm]

Black and white photograph of sunlight filtering through a lace curtain

Nicholas Nixon: Details

Photographed in exquisite detail with a large-format camera, the modest details of light through a curtain or the undulations of grass become a rich source for meditative thought.

Black-and-white photograph of diagonal stripes of light on a matted photograph of a seascape — Nicholas Nixon, Detail of Frank Gohlke’s Texas Landscape, Brookline, 2016

gelatin silver contact print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [35.6 x 27.9 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a latticed screen outside a window — Nicholas Nixon, White Place, Brookline, 2008

gelatin silver contact print, 10 x 8 inches (sheet) [25.4 x 20.3 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a metal mailbox on the wall of a clap-board sided house — Nicholas Nixon, Our Front Porch, Brookline, 2014

gelatin silver contact print, 10 x 8 inches (sheet) [25.4 x 20.3 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a stairway from beneath between two clapboard walls — Nicholas Nixon, West Concord, Massachusetts, 2008

gelatin silver contact print, 10 x 8 inches (sheet) [25.4 x 20.3 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of light through a crumpled sheer curtain — Nicholas Nixon, Our bedroom curtain, Brookline, 2017

gelatin silver print, 24 x 20 inches (sheet) [61 x 50.8 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of light and shadow through a curtain — Nicholas Nixon, Our bedroom curtain, Brookline, 2017

gelatin silver print, 24 x 20 inches (sheet) [61 x 50.8 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a window curtain pulled back onto a hook in the window frame — Nicholas Nixon, Our bedroom curtain, Brookline, 2017

gelatin silver print, 24 x 20 inches (sheet) [61.0 x 50.8 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a patch of light on an embroidered picture of two dancing figures and a satyr — Nicholas Nixon, Brookline (Unknown Tapestry), 2016

gelatin silver contact print, 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of grass bending in a breeze — Nicholas Nixon, Cadenet, France, 2013

gelatin silver contact print, 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of mud and plant matter on a riverbank — Nicholas Nixon, Muddy River, Boston, 2014

gelatin silver contact print, 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of flattened stems of grass — Nicholas Nixon, Marion, Massachusetts, 2012

gelatin silver contact print, 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of cut and torn scraps of white fabric — Nicholas Nixon, Clementine’s Dying Samples (A), Brookline, 2014

gelatin silver contact print, 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of the corner of a wool shawl with fringed edges — Nicholas Nixon, My Shawl, Brookline, 2016

gelatin silver contact print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [35.6 x 27.9 cm]

Nicholas NixonBrookline

2000

gelatin silver contact print, 10 x 8 inches (sheet) [25.4 x 20.3 cm]

Nicholas NixonDetail of Frank Gohlke’s Texas Landscape, Brookline

2016

gelatin silver contact print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [35.6 x 27.9 cm]

Nicholas NixonWhite Place, Brookline

2008

gelatin silver contact print, 10 x 8 inches (sheet) [25.4 x 20.3 cm]

Nicholas NixonOur Front Porch, Brookline

2014

gelatin silver contact print, 10 x 8 inches (sheet) [25.4 x 20.3 cm]

Nicholas NixonWest Concord, Massachusetts

2008

gelatin silver contact print, 10 x 8 inches (sheet) [25.4 x 20.3 cm]

Nicholas NixonOur bedroom curtain, Brookline

2017

gelatin silver print, 24 x 20 inches (sheet) [61 x 50.8 cm]

Nicholas NixonOur bedroom curtain, Brookline

2017

gelatin silver print, 24 x 20 inches (sheet) [61 x 50.8 cm]

Nicholas NixonOur bedroom curtain, Brookline

2017

gelatin silver print, 24 x 20 inches (sheet) [61.0 x 50.8 cm]

Nicholas NixonBrookline (Unknown Tapestry)

2016

gelatin silver contact print, 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

Nicholas NixonCadenet, France

2013

gelatin silver contact print, 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

Nicholas NixonMuddy River, Boston

2014

gelatin silver contact print, 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

Nicholas NixonMarion, Massachusetts

2012

gelatin silver contact print, 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

Nicholas NixonClementine’s Dying Samples (A), Brookline

2014

gelatin silver contact print, 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

Nicholas NixonMy Shawl, Brookline

2016

gelatin silver contact print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [35.6 x 27.9 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a woman reclining in a white bathtub looking up

Nicholas Nixon: Family

The artist’s frank photographs of his wife and two children, though deeply personal, evoke the universal themes of family life with its deep intimacy, trust, and love.