Nadav Kander Biography

Sources: https://www.nadavkander.com/biography and Wikipedia (in my own words)

Nadav Kander  is a London-based photographer, artist and director, known for his portraiture and landscapes. He has produced a number of books, and his work has been recognised and exhibited widely across the world, his work included in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, the Société Générale, Paris, Pictet & Cie’s Art Collection and other museums / galleries. Nadav has received the Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society in 2015. Just some of the awards he has won include: the Prix Pictet and a World Press Photo award.



Adam Ant photographed in his usual 'highway attire' by Nadav Kander

Born on December 1st 1961 in Israel, Nadav Kander grew up in South Africa; he recalls memories of him flying there at the age of three due to the fact that his parents wanted live closer to his grandfather. He stayed there, in South Africa until the age of 21, where he set off for England, inspired by seeing a television for the first time and viewing all the different buildings at aged 14 during his time on a visit.

Eddie Redmayne captured by Nadav Kander

Despite moving away from South Africa, it was there that he was first introduced into photography at around the age of ten. Nadav's father would often make slide shows of the photographs he'd taken throughout the year with transparent film. Three years later, at age thirteen, Nadav himself began taking photo's after receiving a camera from his Bar Mitzvah and was inspired by photographers like 'Strand, Stieglitz, Weston and Atget' and began admiring the way that they  had depth in their photographs, they weren't just photographs that would simply be momentums within years to come; he appreciated that in their photographs, they captured true art. "...All (the photographers previously mentioned) of which resonated the feeling that each artist was exploring their respective lives. They made work about both their outer surroundings and their inner landscapes and their art clearly showed their individual and consistent authorship.".


After a motorbike accident when he was seventeen, he decided to quit riding and once more got back into photography; partaking in the National Service (in South Africa), he began printing aerial pictures for two years. Through this experience, Nadav discovered he wanted to become a lens based artist. From there he began working for  Harry De Zitter and went to England, only to return again in 1985 with his future wife Nicole and get married t her in 1991. In the present day, Nadav Kander lives in London with his wife, and three children:  Oren, Ella and Talia.

His publications include:

Nadav Kander - Night. 2000.

Beauty's Nothing. Arena Editions, 2001.

Obama's People. London: Flowers Gallery, 2010.

Yangtze - The Long River. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2010.

Bodies. 6 Women, 1 Man. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2013.

Dust. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2014.

“I think there’s probably more truth about myself in my portraits than there is about the person,” he says. “When you are presented with a person you talk to them and react to their body language and those are the things that inform you as to the darkness, the lightness, the direction and all the tools you have to photograph them. That’s often very correct for the person and it’s often quite correct for you and it’s that triangle I find very interesting.
“The triangle being myself and the sitter and the viewer and the viewer is equally important because I’ve managed to cause them an emotion by the way that I have my sitter positioned or the way they’re looking. How much of that is me and how much of that is the sitter? Who knows, but that’s the beautiful kind of dance.” - an interview from the website: http://www.itsnicethat.com/features/the-shadow-and-the-dance-an-interview-with-nadav-kander