EMBEDDED: A Photojournalist Captures Conflict and Resistance
An exhibition of photographs by Jim Nickless
May 24 - August 11, 2012
Freedom Tower, Miami Dade College, Miami, FL
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Our dad, Jim Nickless, was a 29-year-old freelance cameraman working for NBC News when, in 1964, he found himself “embedded” with Cuban freedom fighters attempting to overthrow Castro. The group, under the auspices of the MRR and funded by the CIA, carried out multiple missions from a 180-foot mother ship and two 50-foot attack boats. For nine months Dad lived aboard the mother ship, participating in raids, building a makeshift darkroom, learning to cook rice Cuban-style and, in the process, establishing life-long bonds. His primary focus was filming with his Bell & Howell 70DR 16mm motion picture camera for the prematurely titled and never realized documentary Anatomy of an Overthrowal. At the same time, he always had his Nikkorex and Nikonos still cameras strapped around his neck to document the scenes unfolding before him.
Growing up we would periodically hear tales of Dad’s exploits with the “Cuban underground” but never saw images – they were locked away in hundreds of negatives. It was not until he built a darkroom and started developing photographs in the mid-1990's that these stories finally came to life. Dad shared the images with Santiago Alvarez, captain of one of the swift boats, who quickly organized a party, inviting as many of the members of the mission as he could locate. Many of the men hadn’t seen each other in 30 years and none had seen the photographs. The evening was electric and the idea that these images should be seen by a wider audience was born.
We are exceedingly grateful to Miami Dade College for this opportunity to show these photographs and are presently seeking opportunities to exhibit them in other venues.
Lea Nickless & Chris Nickless, Curators
Our dad, Jim Nickless, was a 29-year-old freelance cameraman working for NBC News when, in 1964, he found himself “embedded” with Cuban freedom fighters attempting to overthrow Castro. The group, under the auspices of the MRR and funded by the CIA, carried out multiple missions from a 180-foot mother ship and two 50-foot attack boats. For nine months Dad lived aboard the mother ship, participating in raids, building a makeshift darkroom, learning to cook rice Cuban-style and, in the process, establishing life-long bonds. His primary focus was filming with his Bell & Howell 70DR 16mm motion picture camera for the prematurely titled and never realized documentary Anatomy of an Overthrowal. At the same time, he always had his Nikkorex and Nikonos still cameras strapped around his neck to document the scenes unfolding before him.
Growing up we would periodically hear tales of Dad’s exploits with the “Cuban underground” but never saw images – they were locked away in hundreds of negatives. It was not until he built a darkroom and started developing photographs in the mid-1990's that these stories finally came to life. Dad shared the images with Santiago Alvarez, captain of one of the swift boats, who quickly organized a party, inviting as many of the members of the mission as he could locate. Many of the men hadn’t seen each other in 30 years and none had seen the photographs. The evening was electric and the idea that these images should be seen by a wider audience was born.
We are exceedingly grateful to Miami Dade College for this opportunity to show these photographs and are presently seeking opportunities to exhibit them in other venues.
Lea Nickless & Chris Nickless, Curators