Nimoy's photography career has been almost as long as his acting, beginning when he was about 13. "A neighborhood friend showed me how it was possible to go to a camera shop and pick up chemicals for pennies…literally…and develop your own film and make prints. My family had an old Kodak bellows camera…I’m talking mid-1930s, early 40s. That’s what I started with. I became hooked on the idea of being able to shoot an image and process it myself, and end up with a product."

"I actually built my first enlarger using that camera and a metal lunchbox for a light housing. I had some feeling for that kind of thing always. In fact, I still have the one print today that I shot with the camera, and then enlarged with the camera. It’s a picture of my grandfather."

Nimoy studied at UCLA under Robert Heineken in the early 1970’s and produced a body of work which was published in two books of poetry, "You and I" and "Will I Think of You". Nimoy describes the images as “romantic, sentimental landscapes, still lives, and couples.” In 1973 he had his first photographic showing at a gallery. His poetry book "You and I" was published, and by 1977 he had recorded for the Dot Label and earned a Masters Degree in Education.