Niki Colemont was simply four years old when his house nation of Rwanda erupted into violence in 1990. To flee the civil conflict, which might ultimately result in the brutal genocide of more than 800,000 Rwandans in 100 days, Colemont and his older sister have been despatched away to Belgium. They’d by no means make it again house.
Colemont grew up in an adoptive household in Belgium, learned English by watching TV reveals and movies, and located an surprising supply of therapeutic from his childhood trauma as an grownup: photographing pink squirrels. He’s now a world award-winning nature photographer who travels the world capturing wildlife, and he shared a few of his journey of loss and therapeutic in an interview with Upworthy.
Q: How have been you and your loved ones impacted by the genocide in Rwanda?
A: I left Rwanda at a really early age, so I don’t have many direct recollections of what really occurred. I solely started to actually perceive the genocide after watching the film Lodge Rwanda. It had a deep affect on my household. My father was killed through the conflict, and my mother handed away shortly after giving beginning to me.
Rising up with out our dad and mom gave me a relentless feeling of loneliness and a way of probably not understanding the place I belonged on the earth. It additionally had a profound impact on my sister, who left Rwanda on the age of 9. She carried many questions on what occurred and infrequently questioned about our previous. One among her largest desires was to return to Rwanda to search out her birthplace.
For me, a lot of my adolescence was about looking for my means in a brand new nation whereas carrying the burden of a historical past I used to be nonetheless studying to grasp.
– YouTube www.youtube.com
Q: You have been near your sister, who died in 2019. (I am so sorry.) Are you able to share a bit about her and the affect she had in your life?
A: She was a well-recognized face in a not-so-familiar nation, and it was a privilege to have her in my life. What I beloved most was her character. She was all the time completely happy, all the time smiling, and she or he carried a lot information about our previous and our household. She usually knew the issues I by no means thought to ask, and now that she’s gone, a lot of that data feels misplaced along with her.
Her passing left me with a way that a part of my previous disappeared too. There are such a lot of questions I want I may ask her, issues I’ll by no means get solutions to. Even just lately, after I found that I’ve a brother—one thing my adoptive dad and mom had saved a secret. I instantly considered how a lot I might have needed to share that second along with her. She had such an affect on me, and her absence is one thing I nonetheless really feel deeply each day.
Q: How has your images work helped you course of that loss?
My images has helped me course of loss in methods I didn’t anticipate. An enormous a part of it has been the reactions I obtain from my group, particularly on Instagram. Individuals join with the photographs generally in actually touching methods. I’ll get feedback like, ”That is the most effective factor I’ve seen on the web at this time,’ or a guardian will share that their baby beloved a selected photograph, just like the one of many squirrel with the dinosaur. These responses imply the world to me. They offer me the power to maintain creating, even on troublesome days.
I by no means began out anticipating something to return from my images; I simply adopted concepts as they got here to me. However realizing that my work can convey pleasure and inspiration to others has been deeply therapeutic. Mixed with the assist I’ve acquired from my girlfriend’s household, it’s given me a way of belonging and goal. Pictures has helped me not solely course of grief, but additionally uncover the place I match on the earth.
Hey, whatcha bought there, pal? Picture by Niki Colemont (used with permission)
Q: Have you ever ever gone again to Rwanda? If not, do you may have a need to?
A: I haven’t gone again to Rwanda but. For a very long time, I advised myself I wouldn’t return—I felt virtually responsible for having the privilege of a very good life elsewhere, with dependable healthcare and a gradual job, whereas so many others again house didn’t have the identical.
However as I’ve gotten older, I’ve seen how a lot Rwanda has modified—stronger colleges, fewer monetary struggles, and an actual sense of progress. Now that I’ve discovered my ardour in wildlife images, I’ve been considering rather a lot about visiting the Virunga Mountains to seize its unbelievable wildlife.
Returning additionally carries a deeper which means for me. My sister all the time dreamed of going again to reconnect along with her roots. She was saving to make that journey earlier than she handed away. I really feel like going again to Rwanda, to the place the place I used to be born, can be a option to honor her dream in addition to uncover extra of my very own.
Squinderella? Cindsquirrella? Picture by Niki Colemont (used with permission)
Q. You say photographing squirrels has helped you heal from trauma. What’s it that makes squirrels so particular?
A: Squirrels have such distinctive personalities. They’re chaotic, persistent, and endlessly curious. They can be surprisingly clumsy, like once they misjudge a bounce or neglect the place they buried their stash of nuts… which is how we find yourself with surprising walnut timber!
They’ve unbelievable abilities that set them aside from different animals. For instance, they will rotate their ankles 180 levels, which permits them to hold the wrong way up or escape hazard shortly. They’re additionally surprisingly human-like in some methods; they will push and carry issues, they’re very smart, and I’ve even seen them wipe their mouths on branches and groom their tails. They’re really very clear animals.
I feel what makes them so particular to me is that I see elements of myself in them. I’m additionally a bit clumsy, forgetful, and chaotic so after I watch squirrels, I really feel a way of connection. Photographing them has been each therapeutic and joyful as a result of it’s like capturing little reflections of my very own character in nature.
A squirrel displays.Picture by Niki Colemont (used with permission)
Q: How did you uncover that you just loved images?
A: I first found my love for images in a quite simple means with an iPhone 4. I began taking black-and-white panorama photographs, simply experimenting with none particular topic or actual information of what I used to be doing. Nonetheless, I felt a powerful pull to maintain going, as a result of each image, good or dangerous, appeared to go away a footprint and inform its personal story.
In 2010, I started a relationship with my girlfriend, and that’s after I met my father-in-law. He owned a Nikon D3100 DSLR, and I used to be immediately intrigued by this huge, professional-looking digital camera. I borrowed it for a yr and dove into experimenting. I discovered the whole lot by making errors, and it took me fairly some time to determine the right way to shoot manually.
Throughout that point, I saved up for my very own digital camera. By 2015, I felt prepared and acquired my first DSLR, a Nikon D5200. With it, I’ve been lucky to win a number of images awards.
Trying again, I understand it was my father-in-law who gave me that preliminary spark to start out this journey. That spark grew right into a ardour that continues to encourage me each time I choose up my digital camera.
Q: What’s one among your wildest images experiences?
A: One among my wildest images experiences needs to be successful the Nationwide Geographic Public Alternative Award in 2022 and the truth that it was for one among my squirrel pictures made it much more particular. I had been a finalist again in 2019, however really successful was on a complete completely different stage.
It was the largest increase I’ve ever had in my images journey, not simply due to the popularity, however as a result of it touched one thing deeply private. For a very long time, I believed my work wasn’t ok to attain something vital. That feeling was tied to my background. I used to be adopted and have all the time been extremely grateful to my adoptive dad and mom for giving me a second probability in life. However I additionally felt like I owed them one thing, that I needed to assist them it doesn’t matter what, and that nothing I did was ever sufficient.
As a baby, after I made errors or had disagreements, I used to be warned that I could possibly be despatched again to Rwanda. That worry stayed with me, and it made me scared to fail. I misplaced quite a lot of self-confidence due to it.
So after I gained that award, it wasn’t only a trophy, it was proof to myself that I may obtain one thing alone phrases. It gave me the boldness I had been lacking, and it made me imagine in my work in a means I by no means had earlier than.
Q: What do you hope folks take away once they see your work?
When folks see my work, I hope they really feel the identical happiness I felt whereas creating it even when it’s only for a cut up second. I would like my pictures to offer them a second the place they will neglect the dangerous issues in life and easily benefit from the magnificence in entrance of them.
For me, it’s not nearly taking photos; it’s about spreading pleasure and, in my very own means, elevating ‘squirrel consciousness.’ Squirrels are extremely clever and stuffed with character, and I like displaying the world simply how particular they are surely.
Squirrels journey dinosaurs? Who knew?Picture by Niki Colemont (used with permission)
Q: What are your desires and needs for the long run?
I’m a reasonably easy man and have a tendency to take life because it comes. But when I had one want, it will be to unfold much more squirrel consciousness all all over the world. I’m not somebody who enjoys being within the highlight however for my squirrels, I’m completely happy to make an exception, as a result of they honestly deserve all of the glamour. :p
My dream is to maintain sharing my story and my pictures on a world scale, reaching extra individuals who can recognize these superb little animals. And actually, I’d be grateful if folks may discover their option to my Instagram, as a result of that’s my favourite place to unfold pleasure and join with others by way of my work.
You’ll be able to follow Niki Colemont on Instagram to see extra of his pleasant images.
