Both a photographer and a writer, 
Nic's work has appeared in numerous publications worldwide. Born in the Irish Republic, he left for Asia at the age of 19 and has worked in Cambodia, Burma (Myanmar), Nepal, East Timor, India and Papua New Guinea.
 
Nic received an award from the Johns Hopkins University for Excellence in International Journalism for exposing Pol Pot's chief executioner, Comrade Duch. In his book, The Lost Executioner, he tells the story of how he found Duch, the rise of the Khmer Rouge and how ordinary people become killers. In Brave New Burma, he spent 20 years traveling throughout Burma photographing life under military rule. He has also worked on films for the BBC, ITV and Al Jazeera. The HBO Emmy-nominated film Burma Soldier, which Nic co-directed, provided a rare glimpse into the Burmese military through the eyes of a former soldier.
 
He has written for Granta, The Telegraph Magazine, The Observer and The South China Morning Post. He has also held workshops and lectured on writing and photography for aid organisations (Save the Children, UNICEF, Oxfam), universities and schools (Oxford, Sussex, Galway, Mahidol, Chulalongkorn) and given talks at the Edinburgh Book Festival and the Galway Film Festival. His work has featured in The Press Photographer's Yearbooks and he has been a judge for The Press Photographers Year competition in London. He has also exhibited at the Barbican in London and the National Film School in Dublin. 
 
He is currently working on a personal project (supported by the Irish Arts Council) about conflict, land and identity centered on a forgotten Irish battlefield where he began taking photographs as a boy.