INTRODUCTION

I’m a visual journalist and multimedia artist. My background  covering breaking news and long-form feature stories has led me to work as a staff member for leading media outlets in a variety of roles including reporting, photographing, photo editing, and producing immersive experiences. Currently, I’m working  at the New York Times,  exploring emerging technology and its impact on the future of interactive storytelling.

PHOTOGRAMMETRY

AUGMENTED REALITY

Produced augmented reality experiences for The New York Times,  bringing my background of covering breaking news to this interactive platform.

In augmented reality, examine what's left in the Lake Keswich Estates neighborhood in Redding, California, after  the deadly Carr Fire.

Amid the rubble, stood a melted children's slide.

All that was left of one family's home was the chimney.

Breathe in. You've just brought in hundreds or thousands of species into your lungs. We made them big enough for you to see on your phone.

In AR, investigate the damage to the Guatemalan village of San Miguel Los Lotes, which was buried in pyroclastic flow after a volcanic eruption.

VIRTUAL REALITY

Produced a VR series for the New York Times on a NASA-funded simulation of a Mars colony. The seven-episode series documented the lives of six people living in complete isolation under red planet conditions on Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii.

After Hurricane Irma hit South Florida, Anderson Cooper walks you through the devastation left in the storm’s path from Miami to the Keys.

DRONE CINEMATOGRAPHY

Captured the scale of flooding in the  aftermath of Hurricane Florence in North Carolina.

PHOTOGRAPHY

At the beginning of the millennium, the internet cafe was a beacon of the future.  But now, amid a lack of affordable housing and a surge in homelessness in New York City, these vestiges of the dot-com boom have become an unlikely safety net.

On any given evening in the few remaining 24-hour cybercafes in Manhattan’s Chinatown, chairs are filled with exhausted bodies, who pay as little as $7 a night for a roof over their heads.

People have lived there for weeks or months — or by some accounts, even years. “It’s like prison,” said one regular. “You got to be high to sleep.”

Late on a winter night, a fight broke out at a cyber cafe and a man was thrown down a flight of stairs to Eldridge Street.

Sometimes you need a change of pace when telling your story. Use it as a section break or maybe a WOW moment with a great photo and display text. Use it wisely and well.

Throughout the commotion, people continued to sleep in front of glowing screens, seemingly dreaming, as a woman mopped up blood from the tiled floor.

Regular residents of Hi Speed Internet Cafe gazed out at the annual Lunar New Year parade. It closed after two men were stabbed during a fight in May 2016.

A man dozes in the sapphire glow of Hi Speed Internet cafe, his hand still clutching the computer's mouse. 

The piece ran in the Metropolitan section of the New York Times and on the Lens blog.

A series photographed for the New York Times exploring the buttoned-down moments of the city at night and the lives that revolve around it. After the sun sets and neon ignites, those who work all day need a release, and the late night hours are when this happens. 

CURATION

The NYPD and other departments around the country are implementing new photographic technologies to document and freeze evidence in time, aiding in investigation, and later presented in court rooms.

Created during an Eyebeam residency, Crime Scene brings these 360-degree panoramas of police-involved shootings to a 3D environment where a viewer can virtually step inside the images and be transported beyond the yellow tape.

The project was shown in an installation in Industry City and later presented at MoMA. 
In addition to the visual element, the actual person shot by the police, or a relative in cases where the shooting was fatal, narrate the scene for the viewer.

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The week before the anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, I curated Residual Images, an outdoor multimedia installation of a 9/11 first responder’s records of the destruction in Lower Manhattan, that were transformed a decade later by the murky water of Hurricane Sandy. 

On September 11th, Michael Redpath, a FDNY firefighter, was dispatched to the World Trade Center. Starting hours after the collapse of the towers, Redpath documented the destruction and recovery effort at Ground Zero.

For more than a decade, Redpath’s archive of stunning images was stored in his basement in the Rockaways until Hurricane Sandy irreversibly altered his negatives, binding the two events.

Never before exhibited, these powerful and cathartic artifacts, depicting first responders atop twisted steel surrounded by psychedelic splotches, inverted colors and abstract water spots, were projected in an outdoor installation at First Street Green art park and later at Photoville.

PHOTO EDITING

As the photo editor for the Metro section of the New York Times, I was dedicated to bringing a consistent in-depth visual acuity to daily coverage of breaking news as well as documenting a vibrant and offbeat window into the city. I was the recipient of a number of awards including the NPPA’s Best Photo Editor of the Year.

Admit it; your company is pretty awesome. Now you need to tell everyone else. This is the place to toot your own horn. No one will mind; we promise.

REPORTING

Disciplined reporter and writer of assigned and original story ideas, with the ability to recognize early signs of national trends. Find my archive at nytimes.com.

CONTACT

Niko.koppel@gmail.com                                                      Instagram: nikokoppel                         Twitter: nikokoppel