Nikolai Von Bismarck

Short Biography

Despite his exotic-sounding name, close-knit circle of royal friends and A-list connections, Count Nikolai von Bismarck is not yet a household name. The 28-year-old (October 2015) photographer aristocrat once said that he drank cows' blood.A well-connected friend of the Delevingnes, Jaggers and Princess Beatrice, Nikolai has known Kate Moss for many years through his 56-year-old mother, Countess Debonnaire von Bismarck. Nikolai is the great great grandson of Prince Otto Von Bismarck, the 19th-century Iron Chancellor of Prussia. After developing an interest in photography while on a family holiday in Kenya, at 18 Nikolai was commissioned to take snaps of late fashion editor Isabella Blow. And, until 2010, he worked as a muse for legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz.During this time he met the Duchess of Cambridge - then Kate Middleton - who headed to New York to do two weeks work experience with him. He is also close to Princes' William and Harry. ‘Nikolai worked with the legendary fashion photographer Mario Testino when he was 16 and is now focusing on portraiture with Annie Leibovitz, ' a friend told MailOnline at the time. 'He is well connected on the photography circuit and Kate is thrilled to be gaining some valuable advice.'In 2013, Nikolai, who studied at Parsons in Paris, staged an exhibition of pictures he had captured in Ethiopia, where he immersed himself in the culture of the locals. The opening was attended by Princess Beatrice, Pixie Geldof, Tigerlily Taylor and Ronnie Wood.Of the time spent in the country he told Daily Telegraph: 'For three weeks I drank cows' blood for breakfast, washed in the river and slept in a tent that was guarded by kids with AK-47s. I took a lot of photographs, I painted with them, drank ouzo with them, fired guns with them — I became one of them.'