Niki Colemont

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Niki Colemont
Niki Colemont.JPG
Born (1986-04-02) April 2, 1986 (age 38)
Rwanda
NationalityBelgian
Other names
  • Nyirimana (African Name on ID)
  • Squirrelman (Media Name)
CitizenshipBelgium
Occupation
  • Automotive Production Worker
  • Line Manager
  • Wildlife Photographer
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Spouse(s)Ine Guzik
AwardsNational Geographic 2022 public winner

Niki Colemont (born April 2, 1986) widely known by the moniker “Squirrelman” is a Belgian natural photographer, speaker, and automobile industry personnel.[1] He has received accolades for his squirrel photographs, notably claiming the National Geographic Photography contest public winner of 2022. He is well known for his photography of squirrels in their natural surroundings with umbrellas, shopping trolleys, and dinosaurs.[2][3]

Early life

Colemont was born in Rwanda and relocated to Belgium as a war refugee with his sister at the age of 4, owing to the war that resulted in a massive genocide.[4][5] He grew up without parents, losing his mother when he was three months old and his father in the war. He studied in a special school in Belgium because of his lack of knowledge and the language barrier.[6][7][8][9][10][11]

Career

Colemont developed an interest in photography due to the encouragement of his girlfriend and in-laws.[12][13] In 2016, he discovered a squirrel in the garden of his girlfriend's grandmother and began photographing squirrels as an amateur wildlife photographer. Following this, he purchased a squirrel feeder and decided to film how the rodents accessed the food source. He considered photographing squirrels with food and other stuff on multiple occasions. He began capturing squirrels in many creative poses with umbrellas, dinosaurs, snacks, shopping carts, Barbie dolls, toy cars, and more.[14] Subsequently, by using the camera frequently, Colemont turned it into a pastime and spent 4-5 hours each week monitoring wildlife.[15][16]

Colemont began photographing using a Nikon D5200.[17] Since photographing a squirrel for the first time, he has photographed several animals, including gorillas to kingifsher Eagles to buzzards bears to Woodpeckers Bullfrogs to eurasian tree frogs.[18][19] The work of Colemont has received widespread appreciation and has been published by numerous media outlets and periodicals, including USA Today, Mirror, Yahoo, BeautifulNews, and The Epoch Times, among others. He also spoke at a photography event hosted by Nikon Belgium in Brussels. Colemont has also published its photographs as NFTs on OpenSea.[20][21]

Besides being a nature and wildlife photographer, Colemont works in an automotive company during the day, making sound-proof car dashboard isolations.[22][23][24][25]

Awards and recognition

  • National Geographic photography contest public winner (2022)
  • Annual Photography Awards 2021 Honorable Mention / Wildlife[26]
  • Non Professional IPA (2021) Honorable Mention / Wildlife
  • Anual Photography Awards (2020) Honorable Mention / Wildlife[27]
  • National Geographic Finalist (2019)

In the media

  

References

  1. ↑ Man Finds, Peace Photographing (19 January 2022). "Man Finds Peace Photographing Squirrels After Escaping Rwandan Civil War". UNILAD. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  2. ↑ Zhang, Michael (9 March 2022). "Photographer Captures Squirrels Playing with Dinosaurs". PetaPixel. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  3. ↑ Limburger Niki wint samen, DPG Media (19 January 2022). "DPG Media Privacy Gate". myprivacy.dpgmedia.be. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  4. ↑ Limburger Niki wint samen, DPG Media (19 January 2022). "DPG Media Privacy Gate". myprivacy.dpgmedia.be. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  5. ↑ wint samen, Limburger Niki (19 January 2022). "Limburger Niki wint samen met Nederlander publieksprijs National Geographic door… een telfout". www.nieuwsblad.be (in Nederlands). Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  6. ↑ eekhoornfoto’s voor, Niki stelt (19 January 2022). "Niki stelt eekhoornfoto's voor het eerst tentoon in Houthalen-Helchteren". Het Belang van Limburg (in Nederlands). Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  7. ↑ Zhang, Michael (21 January 2021). "This Genocide Survivor Finds Peace in Photographing Squirrels". PetaPixel. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  8. ↑ squirrels playing with toy, Photographer captures (27 May 2022). "Photographer captures squirrels playing with toy dinosaurs in an adorable photo series". www.theepochtimes.com. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  9. ↑ focuses joyful lives squirrels, heal grief photographer (19 January 2022). "Google". Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  10. ↑ Taylor, Jessica (20 October 2021). "Rwandan refugee takes incredible photos of squirrels to handle trauma". mirror. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  11. ↑ The Amateur, Introducing 'Squirrelman' (11 March 2021). "Introducing 'Squirrelman', The Amateur Snapper Taking Amazing Squirrel Pics". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  12. ↑ NWS, VRT (14 November 2022). "Fotograaf uit Diepenbeek wint publieksprijs National Geographic Fotowedstrijd". vrtnws.be (in Nederlands). Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  13. ↑ Adventure, A.S. (19 January 2022). "Verliefd op de wonderen van de Belgische natuur". A.S.Adventure. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  14. ↑ Djudjic, Dunja (8 April 2021). "These photos of jumping squirrels with nuts will put a huge smile on your face". DIY Photography. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  15. ↑ Meremans, Jolien (10 February 2021). "Niki 'de eekhoorntjesfotograaf' Colemont: 'Ik wil met mijn foto's mensen vrolijk maken'". Flair.be (in Nederlands). Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  16. ↑ Wholesome Squirrel, Genocide Survivor’s (20 February 2022). "Genocide Survivor's Wholesome Squirrel Photos Go Viral (LOOK)". Good News Network. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  17. ↑ photos of squirrels, Refugee takes hilarious (19 January 2022). "Refugee takes hilarious photos of squirrels to help cope with trauma". uk.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  18. ↑ Moses, Allison (19 January 2022). "A photographer is on a mission to bring joy to the world, one tiny squirrel prop at a time". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  19. ↑ gaan viraal, Limburgse eekhoorns (26 January 2021). "Limburgse eekhoorns gaan viraal (video)". PNWS (in Nederlands). Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  20. ↑ eekhoorn met winkelwagentje, Foto's van Nederlandse (5 November 2021). "Foto's van Nederlandse eekhoorn met winkelwagentje gaan wereld over". nos.nl (in Nederlands). Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  21. ↑ Times, The Brussels (19 January 2022). "Mistake in National Geographic photo contest leads to two winners". www.brusselstimes.com. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  22. ↑ man, Squirrel (19 January 2022). "niki colemont's portfolio on Picfair". Picfair.com. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  23. ↑ Squirrels - Collection, Bored Lazy (19 January 2022). "Bored Lazy Squirrels - Collection". OpenSea. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  24. ↑ animals, Sporty (6 August 2022). "Sporty animals showcase their talents in these incredible photos". Mail Online. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  25. ↑ Baker, Sam (26 December 2021). "Playful red squirrels as you've NEVER seen them before". Mail Online. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  26. ↑ "2021 Annual Photography Awards". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  27. ↑ "Annual Photography Awards - 2020 Wildlife Honorable Mention - niki colemont". annualphotoawards.com. Retrieved 9 December 2022.

External Link

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