Nicolas Claris

Texte français plus bas

Based in Bordeaux on the river banks for almost 20 years, Nicolas Claris was born in 1952 and grew up in the fishing neighborhood of Cannes; a stones throw from the port and the famous film festival. He began working as a professional photographer for several yacht builders, architects and designers in 1999. In 2008, Sinar entrusted him with an HY6 for one year of intensive testing under conditions that were unusual for this type of camera.

In 2012 a close collaboration with Pentax / Ricoh was established.

Nicolas spent his first years in Cannes, the city located on the French Riviera where magnificent yachts, small fishermen boats and movie festivals are the fundamentals of the life. Sometimes the place where one spends one’s youth  sets the stage for the rest of one’s life.  

He was already an amateur boat builder by the age of 19 (he built a 45 ft sailboat with a friend)!  He cut his teeth as a photographer’s assistant in 1975 over several months in fashion photography in Paris and then the sea pulled him back to sailing. These two forces have shaped his life. As a skipper, from 1974-1979, he crossed the Atlantic ocean, sailed the Mediterranean Sea and the three oceans.

Then came boat building in Antibes for 4 years and following that a successful career in advertising agencies work for 10 years in Paris.  In 1993 he created “Claris” with Marine, his talented wife: an advertising agency dedicated to the Yachting industry, architecture and vineyards, later their son Romain joined them, bringing his own talent for video shooting and editing. 

By 2000 he was fully devoting to his passion for his own photography of the best of yachts that prestige shipyards could produce and started in parallel a series of personal photographic works. This carried through in the delivery of the pictures in ads, brochures, catalogs, limited edition books and giant exhibition prints as well.

Always fond of new technologies and technical progresses, Nicolas has been collaborating with Sinar and is for many years, featured by Pentax Ricoh in France and Europe.

In both his commercial and artistic photographic works, Nicolas sets his own view of beauty, esthetic and majesty in every single thing. His aim is to show that there is quite often an angle of view that brings hope and keep optimism despite the injustices and evils that exist on our planet…

Nicolas aime la technique et la mer, il a construit des bateaux, navigué et si la photographie lui est venue comme une fenêtre qui s’ouvre, il n’a jamais cessé de parfaire sa connaissance de cet art. Pas seulement par une maîtrise de sa science, mais aussi par une grande connaissance de ce que la photographie a généré d’œuvres d’art. C’est ainsi qu’il regarde, associant dans ses rétines l’histoire de l’art aux possibilités du matériel. Cette fenêtre s’est ouverte pour Nicolas il y a un peu plus de 13 ans, c’est peu si l’on considère la richesse de l’œuvre, lorsqu’on regarde l’éclectisme des photographies. Le bateau, bien sûr, qui lui permet d’être aujourd’hui reconnu comme la référence pour les intérieurs de yachts, mais aussi l’Architecture, et le Monde dans ses détails, comme poussent des fleurs entre deux pierres ou meurt une branche cassée sur la terre. Un homme dont les convictions font un style, il est de ceux qui croient aux dernières lueurs comme chance d’attraper la note bleue du photographe."

Bruno Belmont - groupe Bénéteau - April 2013

Basé depuis plus de quinze ans à Bordeaux, Nicolas Claris est né en 1952 et a grandi à Cannes dans le quartier des pêcheurs  à quelques encâblures du port et du célèbre festival de cinéma ...

Nicolas a commencé son travail de photographe professionnel en 1999, à l'époque l'un des premiers professionels à adopter le numérique !

En 2008, Sinar à confié un HY6 pour une année de tests intensif dans des conditions hors normes pour un tel boîtier. En 2012 et 2013, une coopération étroite avec Pentax / Ricoh France a été mise en place.