• 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 based in Paris whose work bridges the worlds of fine art and popular culture. Drawing on a background in cinematography from her studies in London and Edinburgh, her photographs are marked by rich atmosphere, precise composition, and an emotional resonance that connects personal narrative with broader cultural themes.

Best known for Skater—a portrait series capturing over 300 skateboarders across six countries—Toole turns her lens toward youth, alternative and underground subcultures. Rather than focusing on surface aesthetics or spectacle, she documents the quiet, often unseen moments of introspection within these communities. The result is a body of work that elevates subcultural identity into the realm of high art, while staying deeply grounded in lived experience.

Through this lens, Toole’s portraits function as both social document and conceptual inquiry—examining how people, especially those on the margins, construct identity, intimacy, and belonging. Her ability to move between the language of contemporary art and the codes of popular culture allows her work to resonate across disciplines and audiences.

Her photographs have been exhibited internationally and are held in major public and private collections. She has been a five-time finalist in the National Photographic Portrait Prize and a 2020 finalist in the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize at London’s National Portrait Gallery. Toole also lectures on photography and cultural identity across Europe, Australia and the U.S.

PRESS
  • WALLPAPER
  • 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