Good storytellers know how to observe by recognizing that they are part of something larger than themselves. They are immersed in the experience.

Michael “Nick” Nichols is one of these those people. Over the course of his decades-long career he has combined this innate talent with an artistic eye to create photographs of lions, tigers, elephants, chimpanzees, and gorillas for the pages of National Geographic.

His documentary approach as well as his willingness to creatively push the boundaries of technology using camera traps and remote-controlled robots have raised our awareness— not only of the animals themselves, but also the larger context in which they exist. This is what makes the difference between being a “wildlife photographer to being a photojournalist in the