Ian Shive

Ian Shive is an Ansel award-winning American photographer and filmmaker whose work documents some of the world’s most pristine environments and brings to the public important conservation stories from around the globe. In 2020, Ian launched a new series on Discovery Channel titled Nature in Focus, where he explores our planet as host and executive producer. In 2019, Ian led several expeditions to some of the world’s most remote coral atolls for the giant-screen film, Hidden Pacific, which he directed and produced. Hidden Pacific brings to life in IMAX 3D the vibrant marine national monuments at the far reaches of the Pacific Ocean — thriving ecosystems filled with colorful coral reefs, large colonies of birds, and threatened species that depend on these habitats for survival. He is the author of several, best-selling books including the award-winning The National Parks: An American Legacy, and is proud to announce the release of his next, hardcover book Refuge: America’s Wildest Places, which celebrates the National Wildlife Refuge System. 

Based in Los Angeles, Ian is also the founder and CEO of Tandem Stills + Motion, a leading outdoor media company. Check him on Instagram.

3 words to describe Nature?

Peace. Indiscriminate. Foundational

3 things Nature taught you?

That beauty exists all around us, even in the smallest details. 

To be at peace with all around me, and treat others with the same peace. 

That we are all connected, not just as people, but as a part of nature. 

3 most treasured Nature spots?

Channel Islands National Park, California

Shoshone Lake, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Assunpink Wildlife Management Area, New Jersey

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Small. Curious to explore. Sad that something so big could suffer so much by our hands

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

Tranquility. A part of it, as though I could blend in and not be seen

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

That I am witness to something still in progress. 

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

I sense time most acutely. I feel joy at both.

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Excitement! 

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

Cozy. Time to light a fire. 

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

Mountain, Desert, Forest, Ocean - in that order. 

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

10 

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

Where I lived in New Jersey, we didn't have access to the big nature of national parks, but we had small parks. Ducks, fish in a pond, turtles in a creek. It was the small things, little trips daily to the water's edge that I think really impacted me the most, and where I began an appreciation of all of nature, large and small. I remember my parents always being patient, taking me to those places where my young imagination could be so lit up by the natural world. 

 


Stefan Simcowitz

Stefan Simchowitz is a controversial Los Angeles based art collector, art curator, art advisor and founder of Simco's Club, an art-collecting, selling, and promoting website dedicated to successful, young, and emerging artists around the world. In November 2015, he was ranked #95 in Art Review Magazine's POWER 100, a list of the "most influential people in the contemporary artworld." He was famously dubbed “The Art World’s Patron Satan” by the New York Times back in 2014. Journalist Andrew Goldstein of New York Magazine, Artnet, and Artspace, argues that Simcho is destabilizing outdated art-world archetypes that perpetuate dangerous myths about how art is distributed, displayed, and discussed.

After college, Stefan started a film production company responsible for a number of feature films and shorts, such as Darren Aronofsky's critically acclaimed drama, Requiem for a Dream. He co-founded the celebrity photo and video service, WireImage, which eventually sold to Getty Images in 2007 for $200 million.

Stefan is a vocal proponent of social media as a legitimate way of discovering, distributing, and popularizing the fine arts, primarily using Facebook and Instagram as platforms for self-promotion, discovering new artists, and endorsing those he already manages. 

3 words to describe Nature?

Electron. Neutron. Proton 

3 things Nature taught you?

We are all one and the same

Nature defines the rules of the game

Understand the end is not different to the beginning and you will be fine 

3 most treasured Nature spots?

The hills of Tuscany

The sea of Liguria

The Blue Mountains 

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Like going for a swim 

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

Going for a walk 

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

Like wishing I was getting a cold brew coffee and pastry 

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

Like an ancient human

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Getting inside

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

Getting under the duvet 

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

Somewhere between the forest and the mountain  

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

10 

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

The game reserve, safari.

 


John Hendicott

John Hendicott is a sound designer and platinum selling music producer who has a passion for working with artists to realise their musical vision. John has spent 10 years at the top of his craft, winning national and international awards in a range of disciplines including music production, film, installations and most recently, immersive 360° media.

In 2015, John Co-Founded Aurelia Soundworks, an audio post-production and creative content studio providing world class 3D sound mixing services, consultation and original content to the Virtual and Mixed Reality industries.

John’s latest VR Experience ‘Reeps One: Does Not Exist’, was launched with YouTube at Cannes Lions and has since won ‘Best Sound Design Experience’ at Raindance Film Festival, as well as nominations at the UKMVA’s and The Proto Awards.

currently lives in Los Angeles where he enjoys fostering pit bulls and cooking Sunday roast dinners.

3 words to describe Nature? 

Embracing. Nourishing. Inventive

3 things Nature taught you? 

That we have all we need 

How to get lost 

Rhythm

3 most treasured Nature spots? 

The Malvern Hills 

Regents Park

Canyonlands

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...? 

Reassured. Part of something bigger

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...? 

Like taking a deep breath and going to explore

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...? 

That change is the only constant. It also makes me feel small

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...? 

Limitless, transported

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...? 

Awe, excited, charged

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...? 

Change is coming

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person? 

Forest

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being? 

10

Share with us a childhood nature memory? 

I was lucky to grow up in the countryside, next to a sheep farm in South Wales, UK. My happiest memories were of adventuring in the surrounding fields, getting lost for the day making bows and arrows or hides. To this day, the smell of sheep dung is the most relaxing scent for me!

 


Chef Niki Nakayama

For Niki Nakayama, the art of cooking all comes down to feeling. Always one to follow her intuition, Nakayama’s instincts guide her path as a chef, and it continues to be the driving force behind every dish she creates. At n/naka, her highly acclaimed restaurant in West Los Angeles, Nakayama secures her place among the foremost chefs in the world of modern kaiseki—a traditional Japanese dining discipline based in gratitude and appreciation that balances taste, texture, and presentation through a progression of dishes served in a meticulous, thoughtfully curated order. For Nakayama, the kaiseki philosophy allows her to show a deep appreciation for the beauty of nature, with the purpose of, “highlighting natural flavors, presenting them in their purest way without over-complication, and serving them how they were meant to be in their peak season.”

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Nakayama began her career at the popular Takao restaurant in Brentwood, following her graduation from culinary school in nearby Pasadena. After embarking on a three-year working tour of Japan immersing herself in the deeply nuanced methods and flavors of both traditional and contemporary Japanese cuisine, including the art of traditional kaiseki, Nakayama returned to her hometown to open Azami Sushi Café on Melrose Avenue.

After eight years—during which she became known for her omakase menu—the chef branched out to host elaborate chef’s table dinners that resulted in Nakayama’s modernized kaiseki dining experience, which has become the signature cuisine of n/naka. As Nakayama describes, “I was ready to put my name on something, ready to take that leap and challenge myself—and ready to take the traditional kaiseki philosophy and make it my own.”

Today, n/naka serves as a global destination for modern kaiseki with a California twist, at which Nakayama serves world-class, artfully curated, and exquisite dishes in a progression designed to reflect the mood of season, time, and place. One of the toughest reservations to get in L.A., n/naka’s books typically fill up three months out, a testament to Nakayama’s resonance in the international culinary world. Critics also take note—the restaurant has appeared on Jonathan Gold’s “101 Best Restaurants” every year since opening in 2013, and continues to catch the attention of media including T Magazine (The New York Times), Eater, Vogue.com, and many more.

Nakayama’s devotion to sustainability also plays out at n/naka, with currently 70% of its ingredients sourced locally—a rarity in Japanese fine dining. At 2017’s Food on Edge symposium in Galway, Ireland, she explained how the pillars of kaiseki, to integrate your surroundings into the cuisine, find harmony with these sustainability initiatives.

Outside of the restaurant, the chef can be found at her Los Angeles home spending time with her wife and their three dogs—a golden retriever, a Chihuahua, and a terrier mix. One of her favorite pastimes, playing guitar, “allows for decompression,” she says, when she steps away from the kitchen.

3 words to describe Nature? 

GIVING. VAST. BEAUTIFUL

3 things Nature taught you? 

APPRECIATION

GRATITUDE

HUMILITY

3 most treasured Nature spots? 

ALL OCEANS, MOUNTAINS, FORESTS

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…? 

ALIVE AND SMALL

When you see a forest, it makes you feel…? 

PEACE

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…? 

WONDER

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…? 

LOVE

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…? 

SCARED

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…? 

WONDER

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person? 

OCEAN

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being? 

10

Share with us a childhood nature memory? 

THE FIRST TIME I EVER PLAYED IN THE SNOW AT BIG BEAR, I THOUGHT I’D FOUND MAGIC POWDER. EVERY TIME I SEE SNOW, IT REMINDS ME OF HAPPINESS AND HOLIDAYS.