  We present a near-IR, mainly H band, photometry of 72 nearby disk galaxies.
The main goal of the survey was to search for isophotal twist inside their
nuclear regions. As the twist can be due in some cases to projection effects,
rather than resulting from a dynamical phenomenon, we deproject - under the
simplifying assumption of a 2D geometry - all galaxies whose disk position
angle and inclination are known, the latter not exceeding 75 degrees. We show
the ellipticity, position angle and surface brightness radial profiles, and
discuss how a projection of 2D and 3D bars can distort the isophotes, give an
illusion of a non-existing double bar or mask a real one. We report 15 new
double-barred galaxies and confirm 2 detected previously. We identify 14
additional twists not known before and we also find nuclear triaxial structures
in three SA galaxies. The frequency of Seyferts among galaxies with nuclear
bars or twists is high. As a secondary product, we publish structural
parameters (length and axis ratio) of large-scale bars in order to extend still
scarce data on bars in the near-IR.
