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Nicole Clare Emanuel grew up in the NSW Snowy
Mountains town of Tumut, where her love affair
with horses blossomed at an early age. As
a small child she spent hours absorbed in
horse books and magazines, painting, drawing
and riding. She would painstakingly depict
horses in detailed drawings from the time
she could hold a pencil.
Nicole spent hours studying the various
breeds.
Every muscle and movement was scrutinized
with a critical eye from a very young
age,
developing an advance knowledge of
the equine
form.
Visually driven, Nicole began taking
photographs
at age 10. Her unique talent in both
illustration
and photography ensured her consistent
successes
at art and photographic competitions.
She
commenced BA in Graphic Design after
her
Higher School Certificate. At the age
of
19, she was employed as a full-time
professional
photographer by the Wagga Daily Advertiser
in 1991. She moved on to the Border
Mail
in Albury two years later. This Newspaper
had a reputation for producing some
of Australia’s
best photographers. Here she was one
of 10
full time photographers, and continued
her
daily assignments covering News, features
and sport, yet taking a particular
interest
in lifestyle pieces, such as the Cattlemen
of the High Country. This work eventually
resulted in a 14 page colour pictorial
Spread
in Australian Geographic Magazine.
She pursued
her passion for horses by photographing
for
major shows, rodeos, and horse studs.
Nicole's demanding training on country
newspapers
was the perfect pre-requisite for the
competitive
world of Australia's leading Metropolitan
Daily Newspapers. She was soon employed
full-
time by News Limited in Sydney, working
for
the Daily Telegraph through the week,
and
shooting horse Races for all News Limited
Publications on Weekends. She traveled
extensively
during this period, throughout eleven
countries
in Africa, and five states in the USA,
as
well as central and Northern Australia.
She
won more awards, The Hurley Awards
for her
cattleman/brumby catchers series, and
the
TAB Horseracing awards.
Nicole moved to Victoria in 2000 and
instantly
found work with the Australian Newspaper
as a full-time casual. She moved onto
the
Weekly Times, embarking on long country
trips,
and then moved onto the Herald Sun
to work
as a full-time casual on the features
section.
She stayed for 8 months until she was
offered
a permanent position at Fairfax. For
the
next 5 years she was a permanent part-time
photographer for the Age photographing
Feature
and News.The book High on Horses was
launched
in November 2003 with great success,
and
is approaching it’s fourth reprint.
It is
a culmination of over ten years of
her best
Equestrian photography, each beautifully
lit, composed, and with a certain mood
and
sensitivity for the subject.
Nicole now runs a seasonally hectic
business
from home, mainly working in the horse
Industry.
She has many corporate Equestrian Clients
including Saddleworld, Scholastic Australia’s
Pony Pals Book Series, The Saddle Club’s
Sticker Collection and Album, “Equestra”-
Equestrian Entertainment, and Channel
31’s
Horse Rush TV. She also photographs
for many
of Australia’s largest and most successful
Horse Studs, and even photographs wedding
and babies.
She lives on an Arabian horse stud
in the
beautiful Macedon Ranges in Victoria
with
her partner Aaron Thege and son Rhys.
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