183 - Serendipity, Trust, and the Humanity Behind Every Photograph

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 "Rostr