In this episode, Casey Fatchett sits down with award-winning photographer Ari Espay, who splits his time between New York City and Santiago, Chile. Ari discusses his decade producing and teaching at National Geographic's photography workshops alongside legends like David Alan Harvey, Ed Kashi, Bob Sacha, Ira Block, and Maggie Steber; his approach to street photography and portraiture with subjects ranging from presidents to Broadway performers; his long-term humanitarian project documenting the EB (Epidermolysis Bullosa) community; and his nonprofit Statement Arts, which has run photography workshops and donated more than 100 cameras to young and at-risk photographers in Myanmar and Laos, including activists documenting human rights abuses in their own communities. Topics Covered: Lessons from a decade at National Geographic's photography workshops Why "serendipity" changed how Ari approaches every shoot Reading a scene: light, subject, and background as visual problem-solving Building trust with strangers on the street Studio portraiture with presidents and public figures vs. street portraiture Photographing vulnerability: the Faces of EB project Where to draw the line between bearing witness and intruding Statement Arts: teaching photography and donating cameras in Myanmar and Laos Why the people living a crisis should be the ones documenting it The throughline across Ari's career: humanity Episode Promos On1 Photo RAW - https://nerdyphotographer.com/recommends/on1 Nerdy Photographer Contract Templates - https://nerdyphotographer.com/product-category/contracts/ Siteground Web Hosting - https://siteground.com/go/nerdy Survey Monkey - https://get.surveymonkey.com/nerdy ABOUT MY GUEST Award-winning photographer, Ari Espay, splits his time between New York City and Santiago, Chile. Ari has shot documentary pieces, campaigns and editorial essays for magazines in the US and all over South America including; Architectural Digest, Vogue Latin America, Que Pasa, and ED. He has worked for Maybelline, Gillette, Corpbanca, Ferouch, New Man, Kohana Rum, Amazon/AWS, Australis Cruise to name a few and has shot portraits for Presidents, internationally known actors, Emmy Award winning directors, Broadway performers, politicians and high profile business people. With numerous gallery exhibitions, Ari's recent show, "A Glimpse of Southeast Asia" was featured at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna, a museum in Cento, Italy (2018 – 2019). Other exhibitions include; 2026 "Rostros, El Mar De Cultura" Valencia Photo Festival, Spain. 2025 "FACES / VISAGES" , Art-Icon Collective Exhibition Arles, France. 2024 "Corporeality" Art-Icon Collective Exhibition - Paris, 2024 "Moments in Time" Art on the Avenue - New York City, New York, 2021 Art on the Avenue - New York City, New York "Art on the Avenue" (New York City 2021), "Mingalabar Myanmar"(Rome and Bologna, Italy - 2016) and "The Faces of EB" in New York City (2015). In 2012, he was named as Artistic Director of International Projects for Galeria64, the only gallery in Chile exhibiting photography exclusively. Ari has won Chile's prestigious Fondart Grant, was a 2026 Finalist Lucie Foundation On The Block Street Photography, a 2026 Selected Winner American Photography AI-AP 42, a 2024 Portraiture Bronze Winner Prix de la Photographie Paris PX3, Short Listed "EB" State of the World Project Prix de la Photographie Paris PX3, Street Photography Honorable Mention Prix de la Photographie Paris PX3 and 4 Portraiture Honorable Mention Prix de la Photographie Paris PX3, a 2024, 2022 BIFA Budapest International Foto Award Silver winner in Book / Documentary, 2022 MIFA Moscow International Photo Award Winner for our book, 2020Unmasked, in the Documentary Book category. He was the photo editor for "2020 Unmasked" book which won 2 Honorable Mentions at the IPA/International Photography Awards for Documentary and Self-published book. For 10 years, he taught photography workshops for National Geographic and their legendary photographers including, Joe McNally, Bob Sacha, Ira Block, VII's agency Ed Kashi and Magnum's David Alan Harvey. He has worked and traveled in more than 40 countries. Ari speaks 3 languages and enjoys spending time in the mountains. Find Ari Espay: Website: https://ariespayphotography.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/ari_espay Photography Workshops: https://fancygirlstreetboy.com Nonprofit: https://StatementArts.org Follow the Nerdy Photographer Podcast: Instagram - https://instagram.com/thenerdyphoto Reddit - https://reddit.com/u/thenerdyphoto Threads - https://threads.com/thenerdyphoto Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/thenerdyphoto.bsky.social TikTok - https://tiktok.com/@thenerdyphoto About The Podcast The Nerdy Photographer Podcast is written and produced by Casey Fatchett. Casey is a professional photographer in the New York City / Northern New Jersey with more than 20 years of experience. He just wants to help people and make them laugh. You can view Casey's wedding work at https://fatchett.com or his non-wedding work at https://caseyfatchettphotography.com If you have any questions or comments about this episode or any other episodes, OR if you would like to ask a photography related question or have ideas for a topic for a future episode, please reach out to us at https://nerdyphotographer.com/contact