Nicholas Sinclair
Nicholas Sinclair (born 1954) is a British portrait and landscape photographer whose career spans more than four decades. He is known principally for his of portraits of artists and other cultural figures, combining formal composition with an interest in the relationship between the sitter and their creative environment. His work has been extensively published and exhibited in Britain and Europe since the mid 1990s and eight books of his work have been published.
Nicholas Sinclair
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- Name
- Nicholas Sinclair
- Birthplace
- London, Britain
- Occupation
- Photographer
- Born
- 1954 · London.
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Education
- Newcastle University
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Nicholas Sinclair (born 1954) is a British portrait and landscape photographer whose career spans more than four decades. He is known principally for his of portraits of artists and other cultural figures, combining formal composition with an interest in the relationship between the sitter and their creative environment. His work has been extensively published and exhibited in Britain and Europe since the mid 1990s and eight books of his work have been published.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q7026218 · wikipedia · Nicholas Sinclair
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Nicholas Sinclair • Birthplace — London, Britain • Occupation — Photographer
Life and work
Life and work
Sinclair was born in London. He studied fine art at Newcastle University. His career as a photographer began in 1982 with a series of photographs taken in the circus which were first exhibited in 1983 at the University of Sussex and subsequently published in the British Journal of Photography. He is known principally as a portrait photographer, his subjects include Anthony Caro, Frank Auerbach, John Piper and Paula Rego. He has edited two books about the Welsh artist Kyffin Williams and made portraits of him. Sinclair also makes landscape photographs. He has made two books, one on European cities and the other on a lake. Sinclair now lives between the cities of Brighton, England, and Berlin, Germany.
Solo exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
• 1983: Gardner Arts Centre, University of Sussex, Brighton • 2014: Pallant House Gallery, Chichester
Other exhibitions
Other exhibitions
His work has been exhibited eight times at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1954
Nicholas Sinclair was born in 1954 at London.
Publications by Sinclair
Publications by Sinclair
• The Chameleon Body. London: Lund Humphries, 1996.. With essays by David Alan Mellor and Anthony Shelton. • Franko B. London: Black Dog, 1998.. With essays by Stuart Morgan and Lois Keidan. • Portraits of Artists. London: Lund Humphries, 2000.. With an essay by Ian Jeffrey, and a conversation between Sinclair and Robin Dance. • Crossing the Water. Brighton: Photoworks, 2002.. With an essay by David Alan Mellor and an afterword by Ian Jeffrey. • Berlin: Imagining the Tri Chord. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2007.. With an essay by David Chandler. • Five Cities. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2010.. With an essay by Nicky Hamlyn.
Publications edited by Sinclair
Publications edited by Sinclair
• John Holloway Downlandscapes. Self-published, 2004.. • Kyffin Williams. London: Lund Humphries, 2004.. • The Art of Kyffin Williams. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2007..
Collections
Collections
Sinclair's work is held in these permanent collections: • National Portrait Gallery, London • Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Venice, Italy. • Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q7026218: Nicholas Sinclair
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Nicholas Sinclair”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Awards
In 2003, he won the Hasselblad Masters Award.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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