BRIAN NEVINS
A New England athlete and celebrity portrait photographer; specializing in commercial lifestyle, portrait and authentic culture. Integrating healthcare, tourism and working life into commercial advertising imagery through story driven photos and video.
By some strike of luck my parents chose to raise my two brothers and I along the 18 miles of coastline that New Hampshire shares with the ocean. They raised me outdoors, never missing a weekend in the mountains. On skis by 5 in an ugly brown one-piece snowsuit snowplowing Waterville Valley; by 9 I was using my lunch money to pay off strangers to pretend to be my parents so I could demo snowboards. I bought my first surfboard off Stevie O’Hara down at The Board Shop on Hampton Beaches infamous boardwalk strip the summer of 1995. A hot pink Minard 6’2” with a purple Rip Curl wetsuit, it was one of the greatest hurricane seasons on record.
The formative years started westbound on I80 straight to California’s underbelly of surf culture. I spent a decade chasing the dream of Surfer Magazine photographer going to Brooks Institute and eventually working West Hollywood’s celebrity insanity at Quixote Studios. I chased every swell that hit that beautiful coastline. Somewhere in the blur of it all were no money nights slept on Oahu’s beaches, feral months long trips to Indonesia, South African robberies and my first Cover of Surfer.
The core years took me back to the cold where icicles covered wetsuit hoodies, Icelandic daylight lasted 4 hours, snowbanks were crawled over like buildings to reach waves and I worked on a Scottish sheep farm to pay room and board with Tasmania’s legendary Derek Hynd. It was also a time of Heli drops in high Alaskan alpine chasing powder for Warren Miller and hiking every nook of backcountry I could get my hands on. It was the countless volunteer trips that cut the deepest though. A decade serving families living in a trash dump called “La Chureca” in Nicaragua that served as the most pivotal stories I was ever a part of.
The 25-year career marker is creeping up in 2024. Countless covers, articles and images spread through every media outlet with a couple massive award wins in between. It’s been a ride I could only dream about when I turned the key in that old Ford Ranger as a kid. I wasted none of it. I took the stories, the failures, the rewards and all the reflections along the way to carve out a quarter century of honest and raw photography that cuts to the truth of those in front of my lens.
Advertising and commercial photography has been a gratifying world to tackle. Bringing a return to others life work because of my images is a privilege. I’ve applied a sense of real to the image making you a part of what you see. Most importantly, I embrace the human spirit to the projects I’m given the opportunity to translate with my camera. I pour my heart into making you feel what we shoot. Light, technique and postproduction are just the details in the delivery. The foundation of great imagery is in seeking the authentic.
I am once again home on New Hampshire’s coast with my wife and two children. They are raised outdoors, in the mountains and at the beach in hopes of bringing the same awe that inspired me what seems not so long ago.
CLIENTS:
RED BULL, SURFERS JOURNAL, CAMELBAK, TARGET, NIKE, POLARIS, FLOR DE CANA, DISPATCH MUSIC, INTELYCARE, NUVANCE HEALTH, WARREN MILLER, NEW YORK TIMES, LLBEAN, VISIT MAINE, VISIT NEW HAMPSHIRE, TETON GRAVITY RESEARCH, STRAVA, VERMONT SMOKE AND CURE, PLAYTEX, HYUNDAI, JBL, TIMBERLAND, SURFER MAGAZINE, SNOWBOARDER, TRANSWORLD SNOW, SURFLINE, SIERRA CLUB, SURFERS PATH, CHEFS CUT, UNDER ARMOUR, GREENLIGHT MANAGEMENT, RED LIGHT MANAGEMENT, BILL BURR, TORC OFFROAD, TIDE, SCOTT SPORTS, SEIKO WATCHES, GEAR PATROL, NORTH SAILS, 11TH HOUR RACING, CIELE, MANATOU BOATS, CAN-AM, 1620 WORKWEAR, STONYFIELD, KODIAK BOOTS, WOLVERINE FOOTWEAR, HARLEY DAVIDSON, CURALEAF, EVERSOURCE, NIKE, SCHWALBE TIRES, LIKE THE WIND, SLUSH THE MAGAZINE, OUTSIDE, TRAIL RUNNER, HILTON
AWARDS
WINNER AND PEOPLES CHOICE - WHISTLER PRO PHOTOGRAPHER SHOWDOWN
ESM PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
RED BULL ILLUME TOP 50
PRIX DE PARIS FINALIST
