Nick Waplington

Nick Waplington was born in Aden, Yemen, in 1965. His childhood involved extensive travel due to his father’s work as a scientist in the nuclear industry. He pursued his artistic education at West Sussex College of Art & Design in Worthing, Trent Polytechnic in Nottingham, and the Royal College of Art in London. From 1984, Waplington began photographing his surroundings and the people within his grandfather’s immediate community on the Broxtowe Estate in Aspley, Nottingham. This work spanned 15 years and resulted in notable books such as “Living Room” and “Weddings, Parties, Anything,” alongside numerous exhibitions.

Waplington’s career as a photographer expanded to address broader social topics. His 1994 book, “Other Edens,” focused on environmental issues, marking a shift in his work towards global themes. He continued to create diverse bodies of work, including “Safety in Numbers” (1997), which examined ecstasy drug culture, and “The Indecisive Memento” (1999), a travelogue documenting a global journey. His project “Truth or Consequences” (2001) explored the history of photography through a pictorial game set in New Mexico. In 1993, Waplington received an Infinity Award for Young Photographer from the International Center of Photography.

A significant milestone in Waplington’s career was his collaboration with fashion designer Alexander McQueen, which resulted in the book “Working Process” (2013). This project led to the first one-person exhibition by a British photographer in the main exhibition space at Tate Britain in London in March 2015. He also participated in “This Place,” a photography collective, contributing “Settlement” (2014), a study of Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Since 2010, while maintaining his photographic practice, Waplington has increasingly dedicated his time to painting, reflecting a continuous evolution in his artistic pursuits.