Photographer and filmmaker Nabil Elderkin (aka Nabil) grew up in Australia, cutting his creative teeth filming his surf buddies catching waves out in the water. Since relocating to the US his time spent surfing may’ve decreased but he brought with him a particular visual aesthetic that he picked up from this ocean culture.

“A lot of the ways some of these surf photographers and surf filmmakers were shooting things was really interesting—the angles. And I would study the films, I would study the lighting.” Nabil notes in the video above. “So I took those weird angles and those different weird methods and brought it to shooting music.”

Since starting out he’s worked with some of the most famous bands and musicians on the planet—from shooting Kanye West’s first publicity photos to his recent video for Baauer, Just Blaze, and Jay-Z‘s collaboration “Higher”. The “Higher” vid saw him shooting in Kannur in Kerela, India, working with kids from the Vishwabharath Kalari Sangam school who practice the ancient Indian martial art of Kalaripayattu.

It’s the latest in a long line of visually compelling videos and photo shoots—whether he’s telling tales of magical realism set in Iceland or hallucinatory, CGI-heightened nights out set in London, he’s able to create evocative visual vignettes. See below for our five Nabil works you need to know.

Creating the Imagery for the Pitchfork Daft Punk Cover Story

Shot a few days before Coachella, the images that accompany this article on Random Access Memories feature Daft Punk shrouded in flames with Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo wearing silver and gold robot helmets along with their sparkly suits. Tinged with the airbrushed aesthetic of Hajime Sorayama, they’ve become an iconic portrayl of the duo.

Arctic Monkeys – “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?”

Arctic Monkey

Kanye West – “Welcome To Heartbreak”

Just Blaze x Baauer x JayZ – “Higher”

Bon Iver – “Holocene”

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