Biographical details
Patrick Nicholas was born in Oxford in 1952, he graduated in Photographic Arts in 1977 (Polytechnic of Central London).
He works as an advertising and portrait photographer in Italy where he has lived since 1984. He has held many one-man exhibitions not only in Italy but elsewhere in Europe over the years. He has been a member of The Association of Photographers in London since 1990.
Patrick divides his time between professional photography for the fashion industry, advertising and portaits as well as running training courses for photographers of all levels of competence. He is the founder Camera Etrusca (http://www.cameraetrusca.com), a series of residential photography courses held in Umbria in central Italy near lake Bolsena.
Recently he launched the Belle Romagnole project: a series of nude portraits of volunteers based on famous paintings (see Le Belle). The series, which began as a promotion drive for a regional newspaper, became an international success and was syndicated all over the world. 
Juvenile interest in Botticelli outside the Gallery
“Belle” the book
Now viewable on Blurb.com , the book “Belle”
Patrick Nicholas has assembled all the photos from the Belle series for publication. It has not been published officially as yet, but it is already available from the on-line publisher Blurb. The colour printing is first class and satisfaction is guaranteed. You can view and read the first 15 pages on Blurb’s website.
Belle is available directly from Blurb.
There are two sizes: the pocket edition, 18x18cm (7x7") 54pages, paperback €14,95; and large coffee-table 33x28cm(13x11") 54 pages, hardback €59,95, $78.69, £40.71
Alternatively, you can order a signed edition from Patrick Nicholas directly for the same price (plus postage and packaging), however it will take longer.
Umbria Jazz Festival
The world famous Umbria Jazz Festival opens in Orvieto 30 Dec 2008 and closes 4 Jan 2009.
Patrick Nicholas has exhibited a tryptich of three large 2 metre high prints above the altar of the deconsecrated church of San Roco in Piazza del Popolo in the centre of Orvieto. The large prints are on Verona fine art paper, which was kindly donated for the occasion by Reprochimica, suppliers of fine art digital materials.
A selection of just some of the titles
The Paint Strippers in The Sunday Times magazine Published July 17, 2005 the week after the terrible bombings on the London Underground. The article was written by Nicholas Farrell, my colleague at La Voce, the paper which originally commissioned the photos.
Portrait of a Lady in Easy Living Published in January 2008. The editorial took a different angle: they interviewed three of the women who had posed to find out what their feelings were.
Madison Australia, October 2007 Portrait of a Lady (popular title this one). An 8 page spread with seven photos from the Belle series.
Unusually it included an article written by a journalist, Katia Sanfilippo who actually posed for one of the tableaux (the one with the typewriter) and then wrote about the experience.
On Show in Rome
Seven images from the Metamorphoses series and three black and white landscapes are on display at the Lube Concept Store in Rome from October 25 2008.
The dimensions of the photos in this picture of the Concept Store are 90x45cm. (framed 107x60cm)
My daughter Allegra is in the foreground.
Swiss Tv Documentary in January
TV documentary
Part of the programme STORIE
transmitted Sunday 13 January 2008
Entitled “Mi Specchio nell’Arte” (Mirrored in Art) by Leonardo Colla
On air on Swiss State TV RTSI, a documentary about Patrick Nicholas and his most recent work - filmed in Orvieto in October 2007
It is now being streamed on the internet.
for ADSL:
or for dial-up:
NB. You will need Real Player - free download from: http://uk.real.com/fd/dm/playerplus/dvd/
Backstage video of the Belle
Watch the backstage video of the “Belle” photo shoot on You Tube.
Marella Ferrera Collezione Primavera 2008
Fashion shoot for the well known designer Marella Ferrera of Catania - see Colour Figure
The photos are published in this month’s Non Solo Sposi magazine
The Association of Photographers
Patrick is a member of the prestigious Association of Photographers, London
To view some of the best portfolios on the web go to
Photography Home Pages
This site now belongs to http://www.photographyhomepages.com
Payment
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New Gallery Now Open
In June 2007 the new Photo Nicholas Gallery was opened in Corso Cavour, Orvieto. On show are landscapes, figure studies and portraits. Corso Cavour is the main street running the whole length of the historic centre.
We are now open seven days a week during the summer season. Orvieto is one of Italy’s loveliest hill-top towns and is an easy drive or trainride from Florence (90 mins) and Rome (50mins). It is famous for its gothic cathedral, Orvieto Classico wine, Etruscan tombs and museums, and in winter The Umbria Jazz Festival. Orvieto is only 25 minutes by car from lake Bolsena, Europe’s biggest crater lake and a wonderful place to cool off in a hot summer.
If coming by train visit http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html
The inside of the gallery and an aerial view of Orvieto:
Contact Patrick Nicholas
Postal Address:
Corso Cavour, 273
05018 Orvieto, Terni, Umbria
Italy
cell: +39 347 275 2630
Tel +39 0763 562004
fax: + 39 0763 562005
To contact me via email please use the form below:
Buying the photographs on this site
Many of the photos on this site are for sale, either as prints or in digital format.
However the appearance of an image, especially the colours when viewed on your screen, may be wildly different from the print on Fine Art paper. To this end I offer a small print on the same paper as the bigger version for 25 €uros. If you proceed with the acquisition of a bigger print with a value of more than 150 €uros the price of the smaller one will be discounted in full - in other words it will be free. The small print will be mailed in a stiff envelope.
Price list
This price list is NOT definitive and is intended as a guide. Not all photographs are available in large size prints. Also some photos are available at certain sizes in limited editions only (usually the larger sizes such as A2 or larger.) Last prints of limited editions may cost more.
Prints are known as Giclée which basically means they are high quality ink-jet prints on cotton based paper using archival inks that should last from 100 to 200 years. the prints are delicate and should not be exposed to excessive humidity nor direct sunlight. For more information visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giclee
Base prices are in €uros. Prices in Pounds £ and Dollars $ are only meant as a guide. You may pay in other currencies and conversion will be based on the rate on the day of the order: for currency conversion see: http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic
Prints can be easily rolled and mailed in tubes. Postage is not included in the price. All prints of sizes A3 Plus and above will be insured. Prints cannot be mailed in mounts as they must be rolled.
Unmounted, for Window Mounted prints add 10% (these must be collected from the Gallery)
Prices for Landscapes
A4 (21 x 29.7 cm, 8.3 x 11.7")
£50, €75, $80
A3 (29.7 x 42 cm, 11.7 x 16.5")
£97, €130, $190
A3 Plus (33 x 48 cm, 13 x 19")
£120, €180, $200
A2 (42 x 59.4 cm, 16.5 x 23.4") limited edition of 50
£250, €375, $400
A1 (59.4 × 84.1 cm, 23.4 × 33.1") limited edition of 25
£400, €600, $640
A0 (84.1 × 118.9 cm, 33.1 × 46.8") limited edition of 25
£650, €975, $990
Panorama landscape formats:
17 x 45 cm €90
25 x 49 cm €115
30 x 70 cm €145
36 x 83 cm limited edition of 50 €345
44 x 110 cm limited edition of 50 €595
80 x 210 cm limited edition of 25 €875
High resolution digital Images:
Web-based use only: contact the photographer
Digital and print use: contact the photographer
For further details and information about limited editions, please contact me using the Contact Form on the Contact page.
Prices for Figure Studies and “Le Belle”
A4 (21 x 29.7 cm, 8.3 x 11.7")
€135
A3 (29.7 x 42 cm, 11.7 x 16.5")
€195,
54 x 25 cm limited edition of 50
€230
A3 Plus (33 x 48 cm, 13 x 19") limited edition of 50
€245
70 x 30 cm limited edition of 50 £230 €345 $515
A2 (42 x 59.4 cm, 16.5 x 23.4") limited edition of 50
€375
70 x 50 cm (20 x 28") limited edition of 50
€695
43 x 90 cm limited edition of 50
€600
A1 (59.4 × 84.1 cm, 23.4 × 33.1") limited edition of 50
€750
A0 (84.1 × 118.9 cm, 33.1 × 46.8") limited edition of 25
€1,125,
Limited Editions
Limited edition Giclèe prints (signed and numbered) of the following sizes are also available of “Le Belle” :
edition of ten, 15 x 20” (37 x 50 cm) £625, €935, $960
edition of ten, 12 x 16” (30 x 40 cm) £500, €750, $800
Large prints (100 x 70cm) on canvas: Limited Edition Lambda prints on canvas available: please contact me using the Contact Form on the Contact page
New courses for Camera Etrusca
Camera Etrusca photographic workshops and holidays is run by Patrick Nicholas and Lodovico Pignatti.
Photographic workshops: choose from intensive one day workshops (useful for those already on vacation in the area), weekend workshops (3 nights) or the whole holiday week (6 nights). All trips are very much off the beaten track in a Land Rover Discovery and participants will see parts of Italy impossible to find without an experienced guide.
All levels are welcome, groups are small (never more than six) and individual tuition. You will learn more than just photography: this is an adventure in which you will meet new people, learn about the culture and history of Italy from the Etruscans to the Renaissance, from the Romans to the medieval, as well as see a variety of landscapes and seascapes unparalleled in the world.
A holiday workshop like no other.
Camera Etrusca has been operating since 1999 and has seen scores of amateur and even some professional photographers bounce over the Etruscan countryside in our Land Rover (and we really DO go off the road!). Until 2006 we operated from Marta on the shores of Lake Bolsena, but we have now moved to the nearby picturesque and ancient hill town of Orvieto in Umbria, famous for its gothic cathedral and fine wines. We shall continue to visit Lake Bolsena and the surrounding area of northern Latium and Tuscany. Accommodation is in hotels in Orvieto.
For further information visit www.cameraetrusca.com
The Belle Romagnole in The Sunday Times magazine
Read the article describing the series of photos called “Le Belle” which The Sunday Times magazine entitled “The Paint Strippers”
The Sunday Times magazine 17, July 2005
Bigger Picture
The Paint Strippers
by Nicholas Farrell
A remarkable project to reinterpret classic paintings has become the talk of northern Italy. And nobody’s raising money for charity. Nicholas Farrell explains how the ladies were persuaded to disrobe for art’s sake Since the success of the film Calendar Girls, even the most apparently conventional women in Britain seem surprisingly swift to remove their clothes for a charitable cause. But how many members of our Women’s Institutes or Townswomen’s Guilds would be willing to pose for pictures like these? These photographs feature not models or actresses, but ordinary women. They are all Italian, and they are all volunteers. They took their clothes off not for charity but for their love of art.
Each picture is a take on a world-famous painting, in styles ranging from pre-Raphaelite to art deco. The works of art have been re-created down to the temperamental skies of Giorgione’s Sleeping Venus, or the bold daubs of a de Lempicka portrait. But they have also been ingeniously updated: Ingres’ Grande Odalisque is now equipped with a telephone; and in the Giorgione mock-up, as Venus sleeps, her mountain bike can be seen in the background.
Common to each is a beautiful female central subject in a state of tasteful undress. Patrick Nicholas, the photographer, captures the allure of his subjects without resorting to gratuitous smut. He has done the classical masters proud.
Painters have often reworked the old masters, says Nicholas, the best-known example being an updating of a painting by Raphael by Manet which shocked Paris in 1863 Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe. It shocked most notably for its vivid colours and for the use of modern people enjoying a bizarre, by the standards of any period, picnic. Just as Raphael used a beautiful but ordinary woman as a model (fornarina means baker), I have been able to use extraordinary, ordinary women who have ordinary jobs. Extraordinary because they were prepared to commit to what must be an unusual and unnerving experience. Few of these women are beautiful in the conventional model sense, yet they are all striking in their different roles. The casting was perhaps the most tricky part of the project.
Back in 1989, Nicholas created a postcard that was his interpretation of an Ingres painting, La Grande Odalisque. The picture was smart, beautiful and sexy. A colleague, the British journalist Nicholas Farrell “a recent biographer of Mussolini” became involved, convinced the concept had greater potential: “It was my idea to turn it into a series of weekly posters wrapped around the newspaper I write for, La Voce di Romagna. But would I be able to persuade my paper to accept it, and its readers to pose for it?”
Farrell went to Gianni Celli, the owner of La Voce di Romagna, a regional daily paper in the Romagna area of northern Italy, now part of the larger Emilia-Romagna region, which includes Bologna and Rimini. He saw the potential immediately. Full nudity was out of the question but “even so” finding the women was going to be a huge problem, especially as they were not to be paid. Money would debase the project: the women should be volunteers, committed to the idea. They also decided the women had to be Romagnole. But, if a woman could not use money as justification for taking off her clothes and having the results published in a newspaper, then why would she agree?
To find such women, Celli and Farrell ran a full-page advert in the paper, showing Nicholas’s take on The Birth of Venus by Botticelli, with a friend of a friend as Venus. They soon had their volunteers. Farrell thinks this might be because they are Romagnola women. “The Romagna has always had a fiercely independent history. The Romagnoli, of both sexes, have a reputation for being great fun.”
Ultimately, he believes the Italian love of beauty inspired the women. Beauty, Farrell says, is seen as an integral part of function. “An ugly chair isn’t an effective chair. If something is not bella it is not simply ugly; it is also wrong.”
