Photo Mentors & Career Pivots with Nancy Borowick
09/15/2026New York City is often considered the center of the universe, especially for photographers and other creative types. Leaving the Big Apple after you’ve established yourself there can mean “saying goodbye to these chapters of a previous life,” according to today’s guest.
Above Photograph © Nancy Borowick
Derek’s chat with Sony Artisan Nancy Borowick on this week’s podcast is all about looking beyond the environment that launched her professional life and making pivots to balance a successful career with the responsibilities of a growing family, amid other life changes.
As Derek aptly notes, “Pivot means more adapt than it means change. And you can turn out a different end product and it’s coming from a different place. But at the end of the day, you’re still building the same connections.”
Nancy and Derek also discuss the value of mentorship, the essential role of human connections, challenges to building community as an outsider in a new setting, and Nancy’s recent expansion into family & event photography.
Reflecting on the jumble of life and career decisions she’s made to this point, Nancy admits, “It calms me to be able to look at all the pivots and all the different chances that I’ve taken and seen that it’s all kind of worked out in the end in some capacity. Like, when you’re just starting out, and I was saying yes to everything that came my way because, one, I needed to make money, but also, someone wants to hire me to take photographs?!?”
“I thought it was going to be a hobby,” she adds. “I didn’t realize I could make it into a career. And, little by little this door opened this thing, and this door opened this other thing, and I left New York, and I said goodbye to a lot, but then new doors opened.”
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Guest: Nancy Borowick
Episode Timeline
- 0:00: Nancy Borowick: Photography Mentors & Career Pivots.
- 1:36: Derek stalks Nancy enroute to the recording session.
- 6:12: Leaving New York for the US Virgin Islands.
- 10:45: Balancing a career with kids and family.
- 13:08: Mixing photojournalism & local news stories with family & event shoots.
- 15:14: Making human connections & being a part of other people’s joy.
- 18:10: Connecting to the local community as an outsider
- 21:35: Building Nancy’s new business: Love City Photos
- 29:55: A pivot means adapt more than it means change
- 35:34: The photographic curse behind some of Derek’s portraits.
- 38:40: Nancy’s portrait assignment from a B&H Event Space photo walk.
- 42:04: Photography mentorship & finding the person you want to be.
- 50:28: The importance of making time for yourself.
- 58:46: Nancy’s advice for finding a mentor.
Guest Bio
Nancy Borowick is an internationally renowned photographer, author, teacher and speaker, bringing her personal story to universities, hospitals, oncology units and community groups world across the globe.
Nancy is a Sony Artisan of Imagery and proud member of the Sony Alpha Female community. She is a graduate of the International Center of Photography and has exhibited her work in more than 100 cities. Her photos have appeared in newspapers and magazines worldwide, and she has worked regularly with the New York Times since 2013. These intimate stories of people and places have garnered major accolades and awards, including World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International, and The Arnold Newman Prize. In 2019, Nancy was invited to become a Kickstarter Thought Leader. Most recently, Nancy received the Humanitarian Award from the organization Women That Soar for her photography and recent monograph, The Family Imprint. Nancy currently resides on the island of St. John, USVI with her husband, and two sons.
Host: Derek Fahsbender
Senior Creative Producer: Jill Waterman
Video Editor / Technical Producer: Peter Maziarz
Executive Producer: Dana Glidden