A retired college professor, John M. Niska of Ontonagon has been capturing images since he was given a camera as a 4-H member at the age of 10. He spent his senior year in college as an exchange student to Ecuador, where he was drawn to take photos depicting cultural themes, a genre he still pursues in his international travels today.
His photo interests include landscapes, intimate natural themes, and culturally-inspired individual and group portraits. For the past three years his photos have been recognized in both the Annual Detroit News and Lake Superior Magazine Photo Contests, and in the latter his photo of a Lake Superior Sunset was named the Grand Prize Winner in 2022.
John credits coursework he has done at the Rhode Island School of Design and the New York Institute of Photography for helping him to develop more fully as a photographer. His portfolio can be seen at johnniska.smugmug.com