Today we’d like to introduce you to Grizel Ubarry.
Hi Grizel, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
For over four decades, I worked as a community development practitioner supporting nonprofit organizations engaged in revitalizing economically marginalized communities. My work focused on strengthening local capacity, advancing equitable development, and supporting community-driven solutions to social and economic challenges.
During my early college years and after graduation, I worked both in the nonprofit sector and in government. I later started a consulting practice with a niche in community development, working in economically depressed communities, facilitating the work of nonprofit organizations in rebuilding neighborhoods using every tool for change.
After 38 years, in 2023, I retired at 70 to travel nonstop for 3 years, dedicating much of my newfound time to photography, traveling and writing. I see myself more as a documentary lens-based artist using my community development experience with underserved communities to explore other cultures and their economies.
I am now completing the last 6 months of my nomad experiment, researching and documenting communities across multiple countries, focusing on everyday economies, cultural resilience, and lived experience.
I am of Puerto Rican heritage, born and raised in the US, primarily New Jersey. I have a master’s degree in public administration from Rutgers University
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As both a female and Latina, it’s hard to imagine the road not having obstacles and challenges to overcome. People underestimate you. To overcome this, you have to not only be forceful in your position, but you need to be consistent, disciplined and, more importantly, produce results.
Part of being disciplined is also being open-minded about learning and listening and continuously building your capacity and skills to better position yourself for both opportunities and new challenges.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Thirty-eight years managing a consulting firm was an important milestone for me to reach, and the right time to let go. I yearned to explore a new chapter in life once I reached my 70th birthday. I aspire to embrace a more creative path in my later years and seek to deepen my passion for photography. I started a blog (Limitedlimitlessliving.com) over 5 years ago, encouraged by many who have seen my stories and photos on Facebook. The blog has helped me build a “discipline to create” through photography and storytelling. My desire for traveling was also continuously on my mind, not feeling I had done enough, which led me to embark on a 3-year self-journey.
Over the past three years, I have transitioned full-time to documentary photography and writing, using my blog for visual storytelling as a tool for public engagement and social inquiry continuously researching and documenting communities across multiple countries, focusing on everyday economies, cultural resilience, and lived experience.
In the last 2 ½ years since 2023, I have visited four continents and have traveled to 16 countries, 41 cities, and more than 40 neighborhoods, small towns, and the Galapagos Islands. Countries visited include Mexico, Italy, United Kingdom, UAE(Dubai), Turkey, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay in that order documented through my blog, Facebook and photo projects. City stays typically lasted 2–4 weeks on average. In 2026 I plan to stay in five more countries, returning to the US by July to restart my life after three years on the road with both a sense of accomplishment and optimism.
I see myself mostly as a documentary lens-based artist using my community development experience with underserved communities, exploring other cultures and their economies. I have interests in learning about indigenous communities, their ability to thrive in a rapidly changing world, and their economic models. I am presently working on the role of solo vendors in the global economy and the preservation of traditional customs impacted by over tourism, modernization, and the severity of climate change. I also have an interest in how urban cities evolve to manage population changes caused by in and out migration, and the formation of new economic models with a focus on both immigrants and historically underserved Black and Brown communities. My photos cover a wide range of topics, from street photography to wildlife and traditional customs.
My plans are to continue to draw on my community development experience to pursue photographic opportunities by undertaking purposeful projects and collaborations that both serve humanity and reduce the destruction of the planet. I view my photography as bringing awareness, advocating for change, and collaborating with others in decolonizing travel and advancing sustainable practices. I am currently working on an art exhibition and photo book, writing proposals for project funding and competing in open calls.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I have developed a substantial portfolio of photos supported by written stories, intending to produce several photo books along with photography exhibitions. I seek opportunities to work with galleries, museums, libraries, cultural centers, and nonprofits in showcasing my photos and stories. I also seek guidance and support in publishing my photo books.
I seek to learn more about groups that are engaged in building sustainable models for both indigenous groups and Black/Brown communities as an opportunity to collaborate in educating the public about solutions to poverty, inequality, and climate change. I also seek opportunities to write photo story articles for newsletters and magazines that are interested in my work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://limitedlimitlessliving.com
- Instagram: @grizelubarry. limitedlimitless
- Facebook: Grizelubarry
