Across Borders, One Bond: Family Portrait Photography From Around the World

Mornings in Chonta. Wake up to the sounds of roosters cackawwwing, the songbirds dancing across the flowers, the fresh, cool dry mountain air tickling your face, and the faint sounds of baaaaah as the sheep are shepherded to the fields for a day of grazing. It's a daily scene in a small mountain community in the Peruvian Andes. Life is simple here. To many of us, it’s lackluster. It's difficult. It's connected.

Here, a family heads out in the early morning taking the sheep to the pampa. The boy kicks his soccer ball, the girl plays with the dogs and mom chugs along stoically but with intention. Soon after I captured this photo, they sat down to eat soup...and before taking a bite, they brought it over to me and offered me some first. What? A family that has very little offering what they have to a gringo riding his fancy mountain bike down the road. I happily obliged and enjoyed a 20 minute conversation with them about their animals, life and teaching a few English words to the children. Remarkable how generous and connected with the land these folks truly are. It's spiritual and special. We should all take note.

From Peru to Pakistan and Iraq to Switzerland—One thing is constant. There’s nothing deeper than a family’s bond and love.

From a young age, I was captivated by imagery, spinning globes, pouring over photo books, and dreaming of distant places. That curiosity has led me to explore over 75+ countries, earn a Master’s in Socio-Cultural Anthropology (studying in the Peruvian Andes), and working for many years as an outdoor guide, photographer, and experiential educator.

The greatest lessons I’ve learned have come from the people I’ve met along this dusty path of life. Those who’ve lived lives vastly different from mine. Their generosity, resilience, and connection to land have profoundly shaped how I move through the world.

Photography is more than a profession, it’s how I listen to the world. I see in light, texture, and ‘feeling’. I approach each session with heart, curiosity, and an unwavering commitment to authenticity.

Most importantly, it’s taught me a profound sense of curiosity for all of the ways to live in the world and to celebrate all of the beautiful forms of culture and humanity.

I truly believe my unique background and experiences make my style, perspective and eye a bit different from other family portrait photographers here in Colorado.

I bring the same eye and energy for family photo sessions here at home. I welcome diversity, vibrancy, rituals, traditions…you name it. Visual storytelling is my love language, and I’d love to help tell your story.

Two quotes from Wade Davis, an Anthropologist, I’ve long looked up to since I was a kiddo really hit home for me:

“If diversity is a source of wonder, its opposite - the ubiquitous condensation to some blandly amorphous and singulary generic modern culture that takes for granted an impoverished environment - is a source of dismay. There is, indeed, a fire burning over the earth, taking with it plants and animals, cultures, languages, ancient skills and visionary wisdom. Quelling this flame, and re-inventing the poetry of diversity is perhaps the most importent challenge of our times.”

“The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you; they are unique manifestations of the human spirit.”

I hope you enjoy these images from pockets around the world far from home here in Colorado. My wish is they convey a sense of connectedness & a profound sense of a shared human experience. The world isn’t just what see on the news. We are all so similar, we all have stories & we are all unique. I’d love to help you capture your family’s story. Please reach out to chat. I’d be honored to share time with you all and create some cherished memories.

I invite you to check out more of my photography from my experiences around our beautiful planet on my other website.

“Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future.” – Gail Lumet Buckley

The spirit of Cuba: Music. It's ubiquitous, it's full of pageantry and life, it's passion. It makes your soul smile and your body groove.

Walking down the Malecón in Havana, this welcoming, albeit very drunk man blocked my path, extended his hand and exclaimed, "My frrriend! Where'd arrre youuu fdrromm?" I pridefully responded "The United States" (This is in large part because of Obama was still in office). "Welllcommmm! What'd is yourrr name?" "Ryan," I say. "Rrrryann, I will play a song for'd youuu." He quickly strums his guitar and belts out my name mixed with many fun cliche hooks. It's not going to make the Billboard charts anytime soon, but that is besides the point. It's passionate. It's drunk. It's soulful and fun. He then cordially offers me a sip out of his plastic water bottle filled with cheap rum. This is a common theme in Cuba. I happily take a few swigs. Ohh, that beautiful warm tingly feeling followed by the rancid aftertaste of cheap aguardiente rum. Yum! I take a seat, and I join in on the fun. I watch him greet numerous passerby's over the next hour. He is a smile generating machine. He gets many to dance and sing with him.

This is the beauty of Cuba. It exudes vibrancy and soulfulness. We can all use a little more cheap rum, passion and good music in our lives.

A family outing up to their alpine orchard in late summer to pick fruits in St. Nicklaus, Switzerland

We were fortunate to catch a really special event at Tengboche Monastery on our journey in the Khumbu up to Everest Base Camp in Nepal. Mani Rimdu is a ceremony that celebrates empowerment. Here, Sherpa elder family members enjoy the dancing festivities from the crowd.

Hmong brothers & cousins in Ha Giang, Vietnam enjoy a bit of laughter and games. Often, you don’t need language skills to connect with kiddos. You simply get silly and engage in the art of play. It creates a beautiful connection.

Daughter learns the ropes from dad fishing together at sunset in Kep, Cambodia.

Two Maasai pastoralists in northern Tanzania wearing traditional shúkà cloth, photographed near their village beneath the shade of an acacia tree.