UNCOVERING NEW SKILLS WITH NICOLE CROWDER

Washington-based Nicole had already lived in several different countries by the time she reached her teens. Born in Germany, she spent the first five years of her life in Europe. “My parents were in the military so we moved around every three years. We eventually settled in the states, but I also spent time in South Korea.”

Nicole credits her unconventional upbringing for informing her connection to people, and her curiosities about different cultures, food, music and art. “At the time I found it unsettling because I didn’t feel normal,” she recalls, but when Nicole started university she began to understand the value of her unique experience. She went on to study English and history, but once she took a photography class she “got the bug”.