Fancy Girl Street Boy Productions (FGSB) launched in December 2004. We have shot documentary pieces, campaigns and editorial essays for magazines in the US and all over Latin America, as well as portraits for internationally known actors, Emmy Award winning directors, Broadway performers, Presidents, politicians and high profile business people. We have also produced films for PBS. In addition to shooting, for more than a decade, we produced workshops for Santa Fe and photography expeditions for National Geographic. Since then, we have run more than 100 workshops in 22 countries around the globe in exotic locations like Morocco and Mongolia, bustling cities like Florence and Barcelona, the ancient temples of Angkor Wat, Cambodia and Bagan, Myanmar and chic islands like St. Lucia.
GALLERY EXHIBITIONS
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
2018 Glimpses of Southeast Asia- Museum of Modern Art, Cento, Italy
2016 Mingalarbar, Myanmar- Torri Dell'Acqua in Budrio/Bologna, Italy
2016 Mingalarbar, Myanmar- Comune di Budrio Biblioteca, Italy
2016 Mingalarbar, Myanmar- Spazio Ducrot, Rome, Italy
2015 Debra Foundation EB Awareness, Punto, New York City
2010 ImMigration - Hillyer Art Gallery, FotoWeek DC, Washington
2009 Historias de Hotel - W Hotel, Santiago, Chile
2009 New York Mercantile Exchange, New York City
2009 New York Law School, New York City
2007 Ninos Piel de Cristal, Chile
2006 Impact on the Gulf - Chashama Gallery, New York City
2005 Kids With Cameras - Julie Saul Gallery, New York City
2005 Soho House - New York City
2001 Foto Color - Santiago, Chile
2000 Estacion Mapocho - Santiago, Chile
1999 Marfoto - Santiago, Chile
PUBLICATIONS
2024 American Photography 40
2023 American Photography 39
2022 American Photography 38
2021 American Photography 37
2021 2020Unmasked Book, Photo Editor
2008 Colors of San Miguel de Allende; Book, Camie Sands, Publisher
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
2025 NYSE Liza was invited to ring the first Closing Bell of 2025 in recognition of her non-profit, Statement Arts
2025 CHOSEN Winner 41 American Photography AI-AP
2024 Portraiture Bronze Winner Prix de la Photographie Paris PX3
2024 Short Listed “EB” State of the World Project Prix de la Photographie Paris PX3
2024 Street Photography Honorable Mention Prix de la Photographie Paris PX3
2024 - 4 Portraiture Honorable Mention Prix de la Photographie Paris PX3
2024 IPA International Photo Award, Honorable Mention
2024 CHOSEN Winner 38 American Photography AI-AP
2023 BIFA Budapest International Foto Award Silver winner in Editorial Photo Essay
2023 BIFA Budapest International Foto Award 4 Honorable Mention in Portraiture
2023 American Photography AI-AP 39 Winner
2023 IPA/International Photography Awards - Honorable Mention for Portraiture Honorable Mention in Deeper Perspectives - The Butterfly Children
2023 IPA/International Photography Awards - 2 Photographs Awarded in the Official Selection Category
2022 BIFA Budapest International Foto Award Silver winner in Book / Documentary
2022 BIFA Budapest International Foto Awards, Silver Winner for our book, 2020Unmasked, in the Documentary Category
2022 MIFA Moscow International Photo Award Winner for our book, 2020Unmasked, in the Documentary Book category
2022 CHOSEN Winner 38 American Photography AI-AP
2022 Photo Selected to be featured in the Critics’ Choice 2022 Competition Gallery at Lensculture
2021 IPA/International Photography Awards - Honorable Mention in Professional Editorial/Press Contemporary Issues
2021 American Photography 37 Winner
2021 IPA International Photo Award Honorable Mention for our book, 2020Unmasked, in the professional Documentary Book category
2021 IPA International Photo Award Honorable Mention for our book, 2020Unmasked, in the professional Self-Publish Book Category
2018 Latin American Fotografia 7 - Chosen Finalist
2014/15 Suck It Up Buttercup- 17 Festival Awards, including; Best in Festival (Hoboken), Best Feature Drama (Bare Bones International Film Festival) Best Director (Austin Indie Flix), and Best Ensemble (Bare Bones) (Narrative, Full-length Feature Film)
2006 Hugo Award - By the People (Documentary Film)
2004 National Geographic Photography Contest - 'Luces de America' Second Place Winner
2003 Fondart Award Winner 2003 – National Art Contest Sponsored by the Chilean Government
LIZA POLITI
Liza is a producer, teacher, performer, and photographer. As a freelance producer, her documentary and narrative full-length feature films have won a prestigious HUGO award, toured the festival circuits, and have been broadcast nationwide on PBS. Liza has produced “Impact On The Gulf,” a multimedia, action-oriented human rights festival that debuted in NYC for the world-renowned Culture Project; and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, her USO-style Gulf Coast tour, “Broadway on the Bayou” received national attention and was featured on MSNBC. For more than a decade Liza worked with National Geographic and their legendary photographers, producing more than 125 expeditions and photography workshops in over 50 countries around the world.
She founded Statement Arts (2003), a New York City based non-profit that brings arts education and mentoring programs to young people from under-resourced communities. Designed to help them build the self-confidence and resiliency needed to realize their fullest potential, Statement Arts has received grants from Morgan Stanley, The Disney Corporation, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The Manhattan Borough President’s Office, The Rudin Foundation and has been featured on MSNBC, ABC News, Fox 5, and the Morgan Stanley Jumbotron in Times Square. The NYSE honored Statement Arts and on January 2, 2025, invited Liza, as Founder, to ring the first Closing Bell of the new year.
With a strong background in crisis management, Liza spent nine months at Ground Zero as a volunteer rescue and relief worker with the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army. In 2000, The Screen Actors Guild presented her with the Joseph P. Reilly Award in recognition for her efforts in resolving a national strike. Before moving to the production side of the camera, Liza spent 15 years performing Off Broadway, in independent films and was a spokesperson for Sensodyne, Volvo, Gerber’s, Olive Garden, and has appeared in Martha Stewart Living, O! The Oprah Magazine, Better Homes & Gardens, Golf Digest, and Good Housekeeping. Liza graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, winning the Lee Strasberg Award for acting in her final year.
ARI ESPAY
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 and Ferouch and has shot portraits for Presidents, internationally known actors, Emmy Award winning directors, Broadway performers, politicians and high profile business people.
Ari has won Chile’s prestigious Fondart Grant and was a 2023 American Photography winner, a 2022 American Photography 38 Chosen Winner and a 2021 American Photography 37 Winner. In 2023, he was awarded an Honorable Mention in IPA/International Photography Awards for his series "Butterfly Children" in the Deeper Perspective category and another Honorable Mention in 2021 for IPA's Editorial/Press Contemporary Issues. He was a finalist in National Geographic’s Photography Competition, “Luces de America” and in 2018 he was a ‘CHOSEN Winner’ in Latin American AI-AP.
With numerous gallery exhibitions, Ari’s most 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; “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 published 4 books. As a photographer, his work can be seen in "Colors of San Miguel" and he was the editor for "Diehards", “King for a Day” and was the photo editor for the multi-award winning "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.