Nikki Daskalakis Photographer | About

Before photography found me, I spent years as the head social worker of the special victims unit at the Baltimore City state attorney’s office. Bearing witness to people’s most challenging experiences taught me to leave space for emotions and discomfort to live—and to never try to change a truth into something neat and compact. While the work is entirely different now, the way I show up for you is the same: in place of prescribed approaches and a need to make it all fit nicely, I let my empathy and intuition lead the way—and neither have failed me yet.  While I was still knee-deep in that previous life—and feeling crushed by the weight of it—a friend brought over his camera. What began as an artistic release quickly became a fixation. My camera collection grew and grew, people started asking to pay me money (what?), and I left behind my day job—but brought along the lessons it instilled in me (in a Prada fanny pack).  I went on to spend years honing the technical aspects of my craft—and today, I know my way around my camera like I do the best place to grab a glass of champagne and a caviar treat in SoHo (read: my photos aren’t happy accidents). I shoot film and digital; I can light anything up—because it’s not all sunshine and blue skies out there, folks—and I tend to really thrive when things go left. Complicated family dynamics, heated moments, and plan changes will never give me pause (years in the court system will do that to you).