Nicholas Nixon American, 1947- The photographs of Nicholas Nixon reflect the amalgamation of a number of stylistic and humanitarian influences. Like many documentary photographers who came on the scene in the late 1960s, Nixon (born in Detroit) began making 35mm snapshots in the manner of Cartier-Bresson's "decisive moment." He was a vista volunteer in St. Louis (1969-70) and taught high school in Minneapolis (1970-71), experiences that would influence his later portraiture. In 1975 curator Bill Jenkins of George Eastman House, Rochester, included Nixon's architectural views in his influential New Topographics exhibition along with the work of nine other emerging photographers whose subjects addressed the "man-altered landscape." Nixon pursued this theme throughout the mid-1970s, photographing the modern city skyline with the sort of utopian idealism previously reserved for the type of heroic landscapes perfected by Ansel Adams. In 1976 he had his first solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. During this time he also began using a large-format camera to make powerful, honest portraits of his wife, Bebe, and her three sisters. This ongoing series, included in its nascence by John Szarkowski in his 1978 Mirrors and Windows exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, is among Nixon's most recognized achievements. Nixon collaborated with his wife on a book project, People with aids (1991), and continues to explore themes of family, childhood, and education, recently completing a series on his son Sam's sixth-grade class, titled Room 306. He holds a B.A. in American literature from the University of Michigan (1969) and an M.F.A. from the University of New Mexico (1974). His awards include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (1976, 1979) and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1977). Nixon lives in Cambridge, where he teaches at the Massachusetts College of Art. A.W.