Our Team

Ira Kononenko is a Cuban visual artist based in Havana. She works across photography, botany, and landscape practice. Her practice highlights experimental and low-impact methods, using expired materials, handmade techniques, and sunlight as part of the photographic process. She has taught cyanotype, anthotype, and cliché-verre workshops at Fototeca de Cuba, Galería Continua, and Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá. She holds a degree in Visual Arts and a Master’s in Contemporary Symbolic Production and Sociocultural Mediation from the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA).

Cotton Miller is an artist and educator whose creative practice merges photography with alternative processes, printmaking, and design. He has exhibited widely and collaborated on projects ranging from fine art editions to web and exhibition design. In addition to his role at Santa Fe Workshops, Cotton teaches at the Glassell School of Art in Houston. His work and teaching are rooted in celebrating the handmade and exploring the intersections of traditional craft with contemporary photographic practice.

Website: cottonmiller.com

Joe’s photographic career has been intertwined with dance since his early professional days when he, “began to witness the beauty, the audacity, and the sheer grit of the dancer.”

Joe is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning photographer whose prolific career includes assignments in 70 countries. His photography combines incredible technical prowess and vivid imagination. He is the “Real Deal.” His work has been selected for five covers of National Geographic and seven covers of Life Magazine, as well as countless other publications, sharing significant visual stories brought to life by his authentic imagery.

Website: joemcnally.com

Arthur Meyerson is recognized as one of America’s finest color photographers. Since 1974, this native Texan has traveled throughout the world, creating award winning advertising, corporate and editorial photographs, as well as an extensive body of fine art imagery.

Besides his commercial work, Arthur’s fascination with light, color, gesture, and “the moment” is never-ending, and has culminated into an impressive body of personal work. His 2012 highly acclaimed book, The Color of Light, is a testament to his brilliant creativity and careful construction using insightful tools he has been perfecting for decades. His second book, The Journey, was published in 2017.

A lauded photographer with a strong commitment to his profession, Arthur teaches photography workshops, offers individual mentoring, and engages in speaking engagements throughout the United States and abroad.

Website: arthurmeyerson.com

Leysis Quesada Vera’s images convey sensitive vignettes of women’s lives in Havana. Moments with her daughters, local dancers, and her neighborhood are elevated into elegant, almost dreamlike visions . Her images transport the viewer into a Havana that is both deeply personal and cleverly metaphoric.

Leysis’ dance images are included in collections in the International Center for Photography (ICP) and the Getty Museum. She has been commissioned by the Annenburg Space for Photography and has completed projects supported by the Magnum Foundation.

Website: leysisquesada.com

Nelson Ramirez de Arellano Conde launched his artistic career in 1993 as a member of the artist group ArteNativa, a collective focused on social and ecological themes in Havana. He also collaborated with Cuban artist Liudmila Velasco to create Liudmila & Nelson, a photography-based artistic team which represented Cuba at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013.

In addition to his career as an artist, Nelson was the Chief Curator and eventually Director of the Cuban National Center for Photography (Fototeca de Cuba). Presently, he is the Director of the Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center and the Havana Biennial.

Ramirez de Arellano also is Co-founder and Curator at Fábrica de Arte Cubano — the most successful and popular cultural project in Cuba, recently nominated by Time Magazine amongst the 100 greatest places in the world.

Instagram: @liudmila_and_nelson_art_choice

Jennifer Schlesinger is a curator, artist, photography appraiser, and scholar based out of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Jennifer graduated from the College of Santa Fe in 1998 with a B.A. in Photography and Journalism. She served as the Assistant Director of Santa Fe Art Institute from 2003-2005 and was the Director of VERVE Gallery of Photography for over a decade, 2005-2017. Since 2016 she has been the founder, owner and Director at Obscura Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she represents both contemporary and historical photography through exhibitions, appraisals, and various programming. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of International Photography Dealers (AIPAD) and she is an accredited member of the Appraisers Association of America specializing in photography.

Website: jenniferschlesinger.com

obscuragallery.net

Michael Amici’s photography captures human connection, rooted in his love for people and their stories. Now based in San Miguel de Allende, his work bridges photojournalism and fine art, prompting reflection on our shared humanity.
Michael also leads transformative photography workshops in India, Cuba, and Mexico, and guides tours in South Africa. As an educator he encourages students to move beyond technical skill, using their cameras for introspection and meaningful dialogue. His approach fosters empathy and cross-cultural understanding in emerging photographers.

Charles is a photographer and stylist based in Brooklyn, NY. Born on the High Plains of West Texas, the Jesus-loving, beef capitol of the world, he never imagined a strange and unfamiliar island in the Caribbean, driven by everything contrary to the Texan way of being, would captivate his heart, mind and soul. From 2010 to 2015, Cuba infiltrated Charles’ perception, his opinions and his entire world view. The Pearl of the Antilles taught him a richer way of living; less materialistic and more human, less comfortable and more pleasurable, less boring, more authentic.

Website: charlessammann.com

Based in Havana, Mariannik began studying photography in 2011. When not behind the camera she acts as the Hotel & Transportation liaison for OneWorldSeen, playing to her experience in the past working with the Hotel Nacional de Cuba and as a Superhost on Airbnb. She is passionate about combining hospitality excellence, artistic photography, and creative solutions to create memorable experiences for our travelers.

Derek Baron, aka Wandering Earl, left home in 1999 shortly after graduating from university. His set out to travel around SE Asia for 3 months before starting a career but that trip simply kept going. And it’s still going today. Derek has now traveled to over 140 countries, and for the past 12 years has run his own tour company that creates unique, small-group trips to some of his favorite destinations. He’s led 8 trips to Iraq over the past 3 years and is dedicated to showing travelers the genuine reality of a country that is so very misunderstood.