• NIKKI TOOLE | PHOTOGRAPHER
  • About
  • work
    • COMMISSIONED / EDITORIAL
    • SWIM UNTIL YOU SEE THE SHORE
    • ISLAND OF TREES
    • SKATER
    • ROLLER GIRL
    • SMITHFIELDS
    • AMERICAN PRIDE
    • INCLINE
    • NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
    • ON THE ROAD : TRAVEL
    • MEANTIME
    • THE LAST SEASON
    • HALFLIGHT
  • press
    • NEW YORK MAGAZINE
    • NYLON MAGAZINE
    • NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
    • ESQUIRE MAGAZINE
    • THE MET : COSTUME INSTITUTE LIBRARY
    • THE TRAVEL JOURNAL
    • SEMI PERMANENT
    • AgIDEAS
    • GIRLS ON WHEELS
    • SUCK MY TRUCKS
    • KEHRER VERLAG PUBLISHERS
    • PORTRAIT MAGAZINE : ROLLER
    • PORTRAIT MAGAZINE : RUGBY
    • PORTRAIT MAGAZINE : SKATER
    • WE HEART
    • FEATURE SHOOT
    • ACCLAIM MAGAZINE
    • GESSATO
  • book
    • VIEW IT ON VIMEO
  • stories
  • Contact
BIO

Nikki Toole is a Scottish photographer currently based in Paris. She studied film and photography in London and Edinburgh, and her background in cinematography informs her photographic style, marked by strong composition, emotional depth, and a cinematic use of light and atmosphere.

She is best known for her internationally recognized portrait series "Skater", which features over 300 skateboarders photographed across Australia, the UK, the US, Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic. Rather than focusing on the sport itself, she captures skaters in quiet, contemplative moments, revealing a meditative and introspective side of the subculture. The series explores themes of identity, belonging, and internal experience within global communities.

A hallmark of her work is how she blurs the line between fine art and documentary. Her portraits are rooted in real lives and subcultures, yet they are composed with a conceptual and aesthetic sensibility that invites deeper reflection. This fusion creates emotionally resonant images that speak both to personal narrative and universal themes.

Her work has been exhibited internationally and is held in collections around the world. She has been a five-time finalist in the National Photographic Portrait Prize and served as a guest judge in 2015. She also lectures on photography, identity, and culture across Europe and the U.S. In 2015 her series Skater had a solo show at The National Portrait Gallery of Australia. In 2015 the project was published by Kehrer Verlag in Germany and is distributed worldwide. In 2020 she was a finalist in the Taylor Wessing Photographic Prize at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

PRESS
  • NEW YORK MAGAZINE
  • NYLON MAGAZINE
  • NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
  • ESQUIRE MAGAZINE
  • THE MET : COSTUME INSTITUTE LIBRARY
  • THE TRAVEL JOURNAL
  • SEMI PERMANENT
  • AgIDEAS
  • GIRLS ON WHEELS
  • SUCK MY TRUCKS
  • KEHRER VERLAG PUBLISHERS
  • PORTRAIT MAGAZINE : ROLLER
  • PORTRAIT MAGAZINE : RUGBY
  • PORTRAIT MAGAZINE : SKATER
  • WE HEART
  • FEATURE SHOOT
  • ACCLAIM MAGAZINE
  • GESSATO
CATALOGUES
  • PORTRAIT 23 : NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
  • TAYLOR WESSING : NPG LONDON
  • THE LOOK : NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
  • EXPRESS YOURSELF : NPG AUSTRALIA
  • SOLO SHOW : NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
  • 2014 NPPP : NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
  • 2011 NPPP : NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
  • 2009 NPPP : NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
  • 2008 NPPP : NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
  • 2007 NPPP : NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
  • SEMI PERMANENT
  • KEHRER VERLAG PUBLISHERS
  • HEAD ON
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Email: info@nikkitoole.com
All images Copyright Nikki Toole 2025