How to See Without a Camera — Nick Glimenakis
Ben Ashby
I love the process of discovering a photographer through their work moving me. Nick, a Woodstock, New York based photographer plays with natural light in a way that I wish I could. His work inspires me, but also transports me into his images. There is an intimacy that he brings to each image…they feel authentic, like you are inside them. I was eager to learn more….
Introduce yourself, whatever you’d like to share.
My name is Nick Glimenakis and I’m a photographer based in Woodstock, NY. I studied Outdoor Education in Colorado with hopes of becoming a park ranger before really discovering photography and moving to New York City to pursue it. I spent the better part of the last 13 years there working in the interiors and architecture worlds before moving upstate this past winter.
You have such a beautiful eye with your work, how did you craft and shape that eye/aesthetic? How has it evolved over the years?
I really think I’ve always been interested in light. I learned to appreciate that from my dad. I remember as a kid, he’d be working in the yard and cut the lawn mower engine to call me over and point to the way the afternoon sunlight would flicker through the pine trees. I’ve carried that same admiration with me into my work.
In college, I took a photography elective with a teacher who taught me the importance of quiet observation and how to see without a camera. At that time, I was interested in photojournalism and making photographs that felt really human and honest. I think that’s what’s so interesting about photographing interiors: the process can be somewhat invasive having a team rifle through your things and rearrange furniture or add props or flowers that wouldn’t ordinarily live there but the practice of photographing interiors is to provide an inside look into someone’s private life as unobtrusively as possible. It’s such a collaborative effort to ensure we keep the space honest, that it doesn’t feel completely manufactured and maintains that human element.
What camera do you shoot with?
My workhorse is a Canon 5D Mark IV but I’ve been really loving my FujiFilm X100F. It’s such an unfussy little camera and the colors are unmatched.
What draws you to a moment/image? What do you hope to convey in those moments?
Warmth, softness, and a serene sense of place. My photography often reflects seasonal landscapes—both indoors and outdoors—and draws from nostalgia, mood, and the everyday. I’m always aiming to blur the line between my work and my life through a constant practice of observation. Photography is sensory for me and I’m constantly trying to pull in as much atmosphere and feeling as I can.
Tell us about the Catskills. Why the move and how has it been?
I grew up in New Hampshire and was a fairly outdoorsy kid. My siblings and I spent a lot of time hiking, biking, or swimming in lakes and sledding down any hill we could find. When I lived in Colorado, I skied, camped, and rafted down rivers. I’ve been coming upstate for almost a decade to hike, thrift, photograph, or to just poke around and drive country roads. Moving here was a return to nature, in a way, and my inner child is thanking me.
I’ve only been upstate full-time for five months but the most noticeable changes are the pace, tree to person ratio, and how nice it is to drive to a grocery store without worrying about walking an armful of groceries 15 blocks back to my apartment. There are also way more deer.
Woodstock has quite the history of being an artist and creative center point for the region, how have you found that sort of culture in 2025 there?
There are so many people doing so many interesting things here and everyone wants to share that with you. I feel like I have so much to learn.
What has you inspired for 2025?
More time outside: hiking, mowing the lawn, a glass of wine by the fire pit. I’m also really, really looking forward to dunking my head under the waterfall on my property this summer. Having a yard and outside space is a far cry from the fire escape of my last city apartment or fighting for blanket square footage in a park somewhere.
Whats your dream project?
I would love to photograph fire lookout towers around the country making images of the interiors, the people who occupy them, and the surrounding landscape. Being a fire lookout is also a dream job so if you have any leads…
What makes a good interiors photo?
For me, when it makes you feel like you can walk into the space. If you can feel the warmth of the sun or hear what’s happening outside the open window, that's a successful capture. I think the strongest images will always give you a sensorial experience.
I also love perspectives that people breeze by because they’re too familiar or ordinary—something as simple as a corner of a worn sofa cushion in afternoon light can elicit so much feeling to me. Lately, I’ve been gravitating more towards spaces that feel really lived in and trying to move off a tripod and photograph from a more personal and intimate viewpoint.
Why did you want to shoot interiors?
I fell into interiors kind of by accident desperate for a job in my early 20s. I started as a stylist for a home rentals company that was starting to expand in New York. I worked with photographers to build listings for the company’s website and grew to be really comfortable in strangers’ homes. After about a year, I took on an in-house photography role at the same company and was photographing a myriad of spaces almost daily. In 2018, I stepped out on my own and have been freelancing since.
With roots in photojournalism, I’m so obsessed with story—tell me about the artwork on your walls or the significance of a book on the shelf or where you found that copy of that vinyl. What does the morning light in the bedroom make you feel when you first wake up? What’s playing on the speakers when the afternoon sun is cascading through your space? I think so much is often missed in the in between and more and more, I’m finding myself really living there.
Your use of light is pure magic…any secrets? Advice?
Photograph as you see it, lean into shadows, and resist the urge to make it perfect.
Favorite place to visit (shop, restaurant, location) to visit/take people in the Catskills/hudson valley.
Too many to list them all but a forever favorite has been a bar meal at Peekamoose in Big Indian. Order dessert!