From the sidelines of various WSU athletics, where access is very limited and all the big-game moments can unfold in a matter of seconds. In the center of this, photographer Nick Neyhart developed his talent in anticipating his next great shot.
Among his friends and in the newsroom though, he’s not known as Nick.
He’s referred to as ‘Pico.’
This nickname dates back to Neyhart’s freshman year at WSU, when his new-found friends opened his fridge and found it dead empty, save for a large jar of pico de gallo. Hence, the nickname ‘Pico’ stuck, becoming the go-to reference of both Neyhart’s name and character. A character that balances his great sense of humor and his dedication to his craft, according to his best friend Philip Hazeley.
Neyhart, a senior in broadcast production from Mercer Island, Washington, didn’t join The Daily Evergreen with a singular focus in mind. He started with the paper in 2024, both reporting and taking photos; learning how to write stories and conduct interviews while also exploring his interest behind the camera.
Early in his Evergreen tenure, it became clear to him that one path was calling more than the other.
“I started off doing both,” Neihart said. “But I fell in love with photography more.”
Neyhart’s shift to focusing solely on photography also had a lot to do with where he fit in best. While he said his time reporting gave him valuable experience when it came to sourcing and storytelling, photography offered him an alternate kind of access, a kind he says he finds invaluable.
“Being a photographer is awesome because you get to go on the field,” Neyhart said. “You get to be places where most students don’t get to go.”
Covering mainly sports as a staff photographer, Neyhart covered a wide range of assignments, including WSU baseball and basketball games, where he worked from the sidelines alongside professional media outlets and athletes. This proximity to the action quickly established his professional attitude and cemented his love for photography.
“You meet a lot of people while you’re being a photographer,” he said.
Those connections have become a crucial part of the experience for Neyhart. He describes regular interactions with other photographers, both students and seasoned professionals. These conversations, where he would compare shots with others, talk about equipment, or get offered some mentorly advice, became a highlight for Neyhart.
Even the assignments outside his personal interests have turned into a meaningful part of the process for him. Though not initially a soccer fan, Neyhart remembers covering multiple WSU women’s soccer matches and gaining an appreciation for both the sport itself and the interesting photo opportunities it presented.
“I’ve been to plenty of women’s soccer games now,” he said. “Wazzu soccer is pretty dope.”
While photography is his primary focus currently, Neyhart has remained involved in other areas of student media as well. He’s spent hours working on the production side of the college-produced newscast Murrow News 8, getting experience operating cameras, controlling audio and graphics and floor directing the show.
For him, experiences in taking photos and running the behind the scenes of a broadcast is leading him to a broader professional interest in media that extends beyond a desire for a single job position.
“I guess the dream would be to work in entertainment television,” he said. “Like go down to L.A., work for Netflix or Warner Bros. or something like that.”
Sports broadcasting is also on his radar, a natural progression from his time spent around athletics and doing media production.
Even with an idea of his dream job in mind, like many graduating seniors, Neyhart is still navigating some uncertainty about what comes next.
“My biggest fear is not being able to get a job that my degree applies to,” he said. “If I’m not able to continue doing the stuff that I was doing here, it’s going to be very upsetting.”
For Neyhart, the value of the time he spent at WSU goes beyond published photos and some career opportunities. It’s more deeply defined by the relationships he’s made.
One of the most influential of which is the friendship he’s made with Hazeley, also a fellow Evergreen photographer. The two’s friendship was honored with this year’s annual Evergreen tradition of personalized awards, for which they won the ‘Best Bromance’ award.
“College introduced me to my best friend,” Hazeley said about Neyhart. “What’s only been four years of knowing you has felt like a lifetime. This doesn’t feel like a college friendship, it feels like a lifelong one. I love you, Pico. And I’m still funnier than you.”
The sense of connection and community he’s forged in the newsroom, on sidelines and during long production afternoons in the studio has grown to define Neyhart’s college experience much as any image he’s captured.
Neyhart points to these shaping environments as the part of his time in Pullman with the most lasting impact. He credits his colleagues, editors and friends for shaping his work, perspective and college experience.
“I am pretty proud of it,” he said.
As he prepares to graduate, Neyhart is leaving behind an extensive portfolio of photos that document impactful scenes from athletics, across campus and in Pullman’s center.
Pico’s nickname started as a joke about his sad-looking fridge. Over his four years, it’s morphed into more of an identifier for him personally. One connecting his experience as a photographer who through school, found his place capturing images and found his place within the Pullman community.
