Hi, I'm Nika
mother | lover | creative
My name is Nika & I am the human behind Light by Nika. I work closely with families, women, mothers and lovers to create honest, nostalgic art through authentic, cinematic & documentary style photography
I have always loved story-telling & photography. I can still remember the magic of dropping rolls of film to the camera shop with my Mum in the 90s & the excitement of collecting the photos a few hours later. This process has always seemed truly magic to me
Ever since I can remember I have been deeply in awe of nature- the earth, plants & animals. I love people & I genuinely fall a little bit in love with every single person I meet. I delight in deep conversation & I have an affinity for old trees. Some of my fondest childhood memories are wandering in the New Zealand bush with my Dad, soaking in his deep knowledge of native flora & fauna or playing with flowers & leaves on our rural property in Wellington
I was gifted my first digital camera when I was about 12 years old & I fell instantly in love with capturing all of life's moments. This extended throughout high school & into my years at university where I studied for my degree in ecology & psychology. My camera came on all of my field trips with me & I loved documenting my friends and nature on our travels. So much so that I later moved on to art school to study photography and painting in my early 20s
After the birth of our oldest daughter I knew I wanted to capture every little detail of her growth - my love affair with photography deepened. As cliche as it sounds, the first time I picked up my DSLR camera it felt like coming home. My love for this art form grows everyday & I am evolving each & every time I pick up my camera - it truly is magic!
I feel like everything collided & here I am- combining my passion for photography with my love of nature & people. It just feels like it's meant to be
A snapshot of us.
My ideal day begins at sunrise, slowly. The smell of freshly ground coffee in the kitchen & the feeling of the sun on my face. Good music, dancing with my girls, breastfeeding & a big pot of porridge on the stove. Grounded in my my home with my people
Then into our veggie garden. Or nature. Unhurried and barefoot. We share good food, not necessarily expensive, or elaborate. Just good. We spend our afternoon making art together - painting, drawing and creating. The evening is slow. A home cooked meal & stories in old armchair in the corner of our lounge
I love good food, stormy days & adventures in nature. I delight in being barefoot in my veggie garden & dancing in our kitchen. I love a long walk in nature, time on my yoga mat, old music, movies and art. We are not complicated, my little crew and I. But we get so much happiness from simply being with each other and gosh, we are in love with the rhythm we have found in our simple life
