LNP Alumni Feature: Robert Nickelsberg (’19)
We can’t express enough how proud we are of every single one of our fellows and the important work they continue to do every day. So with that, we bring you the Logan Nonfiction Alumni Series, where we’ll be featuring one of our incredible fellows and what they’ve been up to since their fellowship. Once you read about them here, you’ll start recognizing them more and more in international news outlets, or even your local paper. Be sure to follow them on social media, too, for up-to-date coverage.
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Up first: Robert Nickelsberg, who worked as a TIME magazine contract photographer for nearly 30 years and is now represented by Getty Images. Below, he shares his experience capturing the Capitol Insurrection on January 6.
Robert Nickelsberg, Spring 2019
Photographer, Brooklyn
Website | @RNickelsberg
You are now primarily a freelance photographer. Were you sent to DC on assignment to cover the rally on January 6th?
I went on my own, specifically for the rally. I just knew something was going to break — there was too much on the surface emotionally. I had not been photographing much of the protesting all summer long, like Black Lives Matter; you really have to make a commitment to those ongoing protests. I didn’t have the time, especially since I was working on other projects. Once the election came, I wanted to throw my hat in. I was sent to Scranton by the NYTimes back in November and came across an interesting group of Trump supporters — one of those groups that are formally blue collar, union workers. All of their factory industries in PA had closed, and they were angry. January 6 was an extension of that — there were some seriously angry people there and they had a plan. I actually ran into some of the PA guys there and they recognized me.
These photos are taken right on the Capitol steps. What did it feel like to overlook a mob of thousands?
Like every other conflict zone, you have to be on all of the time when you participate as a photographer or reporter. Mobs and urban violence are something I don’t really want to become good at, but I do know how to function in that situation. But it was still very off-putting. I was double masked, and there was enough of a breeze where I felt fairly OK. Everyone wanted their picture taken. No one bothered me, but it was obvious I wasn’t in their camp. And it was definitely bizarre. Washington is a city of rules — I started working there in the mid-70s. It felt like I was witnessing a major crime. Since I lived in India and South Asia, I was used to a density of people, but here they were quite angry and cold and hungry and moving on emotion. I had no idea how violent they would get.
A lot of the photos taken that day were used to identify rioters. Do you know if any of yours were used?
Once I send them to Getty, the photos go everywhere. I did photograph one of the Three Percenters washing his eyes out after he had been tear gassed. I noticed the FBI had put posters on bus stands a few days later and he was one of them (they had found another photo of him on the web).
Wow. What else have you been working on during the COVID-19 pandemic?
COVID gave me the ability to slow down and focus on a project taking portraits of individual people. I started photographing a Polish community in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The community is very insular, and maintains an unique discipline and tradition. A Polish-speaking assistant is essential. The project was still affected by COVID — a lot of the people were elderly and I couldn’t get inside their apartments where I would’ve wanted to take pictures. We had to go outside and remain socially distant but this type of camera — a 1970’s Deardorff field camera where I have to put a cloth over my head — works perfectly for that. I’m looking to either make a book or do an exhibit with the photos.
What were you working on while in residency at the Logan Nonfiction Program?
I was editing portraits and images I took during my time covering Guatemala’s violent counterinsurgency campaign from 1981 to 1984 when I was based in El Salvador for TIME magazine. I went back to Guatemala in early 2019 and found eight survivors of people I had photographed 36 years before. There was a lot for me to organize, research and write about, and the 5 weeks gave me a chance to do that. Having the privacy and camaraderie and that space to block out distractions was invaluable.
*All photos: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images