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Event info
Miniclick is a monthly series of curated photographer talks, normally with free beer and networking, but temporarily online via Zoom. It is curated by Sadie Catt and hosted by the RPS.
Luke Norman and Nik Adam are an artist duo based in Copenhagen and London respectively. They first met while studying in 2007, and have worked together – creating vibrant, playful and dynamic photography and moving image work across the realms of portraiture, fashion and still life – ever since.
Luke & Nik’s intuitive practice is founded on authenticity. Their work, primarily photographic, is at times bold and experimental: negatives are spliced and taped back together in new compositions, or bordered with bright strokes of acrylic paint and artfully arranged collages. Double exposure, collage and the handwritten word come into play, along with myriad as-yet-undiscovered new techniques.
For Luke Norman and Nik Adam – better known as artist duo Luke & Nik – 2020’s many and multifarious challenges presented an exciting new opportunity. They began to go out into nature, camera in-hand, to find a new sense of purpose. “The way that we’ve responded to tough times this year has been with a sense of escapism. It’s been a creative release,” Nik tells us.
The natural landscape has long played an important role in their personal work, whether that be building organic sculptures in a coastal landscape or the vibrant hue of a flower. But with a wealth of time and a slow-down in other engagements, their interaction with the world outside stepped up a notch. And interestingly, they began to see a similar shift in the work of their peers. “We’ve seen make-up artists we admire, or work with regularly, start to do things on themselves, using their own faces as their canvas,” Luke continues. “So we put it to them. We asked: what is your creative escapism?”