Michael Nichols Michael Nichols is an award-winning photographer who became a staff photographer for the National Geographic Society in 1996. He has photographed more than 20 stories for National Geographic magazine. His work has appeared in several books, including Keepers of the Kingdom, a photographic essay about changes in US zoos; The Year of the Tiger, which focuses on the world's remaining tigers; and Brutal Kinship, a look at the timorous bond between man and chimpanzee with text by Jane Goodall. Nichols has been featured in Rolling Stone, American Photographer, and many other magazines.