Nicholas DeVore III

Nicholas DeVore III (April 24, 1949 – May 16, 2003) was a freelance photographer in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s who spent 25 years traveling the world taking photos for publications such as National Geographic, Fortune, Life, and GEO.

While DeVore was acknowledged as an excellent technical photographer of the outdoors, it was the way he embraced cultures and provoked people that made his work stand out. His focus on international destinations – landscapes, people and culture – continues to draw admirers and followers. A signature expression of his style, subject matter and viewpoint remains Village Japan: the Four Seasons of Shimukappu, an album that took almost two years to make, photographed in Shimukappu, Hokkaido. It is the only existing published collection of DeVore’s photography to date.

In an Aspen Times article DeVore summed up what would be his guiding philosophy for life. "I feel like a humanitarian ... turning on all those people to how I feel about places and people. Introducing my friends to my other friends."

His work exploited vivid color and advanced in-camera techniques such as double and triple exposures. His style sometimes countered traditional travel and adventure photography standards as he promoted impressionistic images created by “huffing” or fogging the camera lens with his breath and using natural settings such as water, rain, condensation, glass, etc. to frame and artfully distort the picture.

DeVore was born in Paris, France, the son of U.S. Air Force Maj. Nicholas DeVore II and British-born Sheila Barry DeVore. He was brought up in Europe and Aspen, where he developed his love for the mountains. His grandfather was Nicholas DeVore I, author and professor who pioneered the academic study of astrology.

A charismatic student, DeVore graduated as class president from Aspen High School, where he played hockey and ski jumped for the Aspen Ski Club. He graduated from Outward Bound and the National Outdoor Leadership School, and worked as a wilderness ranger, soloing for days in the backcountry.

DeVore didn't get his first camera until he was 19. An avid hunter and marksman, he had a natural eye that transitioned from gun sites to camera lens. After studying briefly at Colorado Mountain College and Aspen's Center of the Eye, Nicholas practiced his outdoor photography while working for the Forest Service.

In 1972 DeVore caught the attention of Robert Gilka, the photo director of National Geographic, with an amateur portfolio shot in the Galapagos Islands. DeVore leapt from an Aspen chair lift to retrieve the editor’s dropped camera, and landed a career start as the Geographic’s youngest contributor. Physical and technical prowess proved him a go-to for arduous assignments: South Pacific canoeing with celestial navigators, Polynesian rafting from Hawaii to Tahiti, Arctic dog sledding, trekking Mt. Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary.

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