Sabbatical from Nickelson Editions

I’ve decided to take a sabbatical from my printing business, Nickelson Editions, from January 15th through April 15th of 2025. I’ve never done anything quite like this and I’m both nervous and excited about it. I know that this might be inconvenient for many people so I thought that it might be helpful to explain my reasoning.

When I started the adventure of turning my photography into something resembling a business 18 years ago (right after my now college-aged daughter was born), I studied what professional photographers were doing to make a living. The answer was, of course, that pros were doing many things to make ends meet. I followed that model by providing all kinds of services, ranging from scanning to web design, from dog portraits to printing, all to supplement (and somewhat subsidize) creating, exhibiting, and selling my own photographs. Over time and as I became busier I dropped most of those things and focused on teaching/consulting and printing.

Like most artists, I have always struggled to find the right balance between the work that pays the bills and the creative work that I most want to do. Because so many people have trusted me with printing their work (thank you!), it has become increasingly difficult for me to find the time for my own work. I feel like have lost my long battle of trying to be a photographer who also prints rather than a printer who also photographs.

I have tried many solutions — a ridiculous amount of them, really — but I have found nothing so far that works for my personality and my life. So, I’m going to try something more dramatic.

I am going to use this time to create new photographs and to think of new projects. I am going to use this time to create more handmade artist books of my work. And I am going to use this time to decide what I want to do going forward. I will share my progress on this journey here and on my newsletter.

What is going to happen at the end of this sabbatical on April 16th? I really don’t know. Perhaps I’ll go back to exactly what I was doing before, perhaps Nickelson Editions will come back in a modified fashion, or perhaps I’ll move one from the printing business permanently. I cannot promise anything right now. I am working on a list of recommended print shops that I’ll provide before my sabbatical, and I certainly understand if this news means you need to move on for the benefit of your own artistic practice (I will provide any files of yours that I have if you’d like).

I look forward to putting the time to my own work that I think it deserves. And, again, I am thankful to everyone that has supported this endeavor over the past 18 years.