Ron Nicolaysen is the founder and driving force behind WorkshopsNYC. Born and raised in Manhattan—with Norwegian and Italian roots—Ron’s career spans over four decades and includes work in both commercial and fine art photography. He studied at Beloit College in Wisconsin, graduating in 1971, before returning to New York to refine his craft through workshops and mentorships with legendary photographers like Harry Callahan, Lee Friedlander, Duane Michals, and Ansel Adams.

In the early 1980s, Ron’s career took him to Paris and Milan, where he worked as a fashion photographer for some of the world’s top magazines: Vogue, Glamour, Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and many more. His work appeared on both American and European pages and in campaigns for major international brands.

By the late 1990s, Ron shifted his focus to fine art and documentary photography—looking for deeper stories and personal expression. In 2002, he joined a National Science Foundation expedition to Antarctica, documenting scientific research aboard an oceanographic vessel in the Southern Ocean. In 2007, his project Mediterranean Portraits was published by Skira and exhibited in Italy. His portrait work for a United Nations project on human trafficking was exhibited at the UN in 2008 and 2009.

Ron has exhibited his work in both solo and group shows across the U.S. and Europe, and has led workshops at institutions including Pratt Institute and NABA in Milan. But it’s the intimate, intensive format of WorkshopsNYC that brings him the most joy—working side-by-side with students, pushing them to ask better questions and see the world more clearly through their lens.

Today, Ron continues to live and work in New York City, where he hosts workshop students in his spacious Hell’s Kitchen loft and guides them through the photographic journey—one neighborhood, one critique, one moment at a time.