The Raw Society | About Us (2025)

The Raw Society was founded in 2016 as a way for us to share our love for travel and photography with other like-minded individuals from all over the world. The organization started out by exclusively offering on-location photography workshops in countries such as Nepal, Morocco, Cuba, and more. Since then, we have organically grown and evolved into something much richer and more beautiful: A community united by our passion for photography.

As photographers and educators, it is our wholehearted belief that the photographic image can be a powerful tool for inward and outward change, within reach of anyone and everyone willing to learn the language. Through our workshops (on and offline), weekend conferences, projects, fundraisers and our membership program we aim, together with our growing community, to be participants of this change, one photograph at a time.

What sets The Raw Society apart is not so much what we do, but how we do it: differently. When it comes to membership and our community, anyone who is passionate about the type of photography that we work with (street, documentary and travel photography), can become a part of it, regardless of whether they bought their camera the week before or are already professionals in the field.

The same goes for our workshops. By being small and intimate (and having two mentors in every workshop), we are able to cater to our workshop participants individually and promote a safe and warm learning environment in which all photographers can thrive.

In addition to this, we're in it for the long run, so, as we get to know the people in our community, we get better at guiding them through their photographic journeys, in all the different forms the they might take on. From simply sharing project ideas or critiquing their work, to creating a photo book or pitching a story to a magazine, to navigating the business of photography or preparing an exhibition -- our community is there for each other and we are able to provide guidance and support to members and also provide one-off mentorship for anyone interested.

Aside from our on-location workshops, The Raw Society organizes community-building events, hosts live online workshops, provides a blog with insights, inspiration and learning tools, produces projects to promote photography, like The Raw Society Magazine, along with any other unique ideas that we or our members come up with.

Jorge Delgado-Ureña is a photographer and the co-founder of The Raw Society. Originally a commercial and fashion photographer, an assignment in Nepal opened up a whole new world of photography to him and sparked the inspiration to found The Raw Society. As lead mentor of The Raw Society, Deglado-Ureña's experience as an educator has been key to the successful planning and execution of over 50 workshops since 2016.

In 2020, he was commissioned by National Geographic of Spain to document the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of this assignment, Delgado-Urena photographed the decontamination work of the Spanish military in Spain. Deglado-Ureña’s photography has been published in numerous national and international magazines including National Geographic, La Vanguardia, Público and Fisheye Magazine and his work has been exhibited in Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Nepal. In 2019, Delgado-Urena won the National Geographic Travel Photo People’s Choice Award.

Christelle Enquist is a photographer and co-founder of The Raw Society. She speaks four languages and was raised in Singapore, and her curiosity of other cultures and passion for travel started at an early age, instigated by her mother and father. A 6-month solo travel at 33 awoke her passion for photography. She would soon go on to found The Raw Society along with Jorge Delgado-Urena in 2016.

Her work has been exhibited in Australia, USA, Belgium and Nepal and is featured in the "Woman Street Photographers" book published by Penguin Random House in March 2021.

With a background in business and marketing, and over 10 years of experience in advertising, she leads the organization's marketing, logistics, and finance operations.

Mei Seva is based in New York City and is the Studio Manager for The Raw Society. She brings to the role several years of project management and communications experience.

She is also a documentary photographer and visual artist. Seva graduated from Hampshire College with a B.A. in Peace and Conflict Studies and Art. Her work has been exhibited at First Street Gallery (NYC), Gallery 114 & Black Box Gallery (Portland, Oregon), the Sawmill River Arts Gallery (Massachusetts), Boomer Gallery (London), and Janice Charach Gallery (Michigan) and more. In 2022, Seva was an Amherst Arts Council grantee and created an outdoor public art installation sharing refugee stories through photography.

Born in Texas and living much of his childhood in Laurel, Mississippi, Micah Green graduated from Mississippi State University in Starkville, Miss.

He began taking photographs while working at The Commercial Dispatch. He has since worked with many local newspapers around the South, while also freelancing for clients like The New York Times, Bloomberg, and Reuters.

Green recently was published in the 39th edition of the American Photography Annual, he's had exhibitions of his work in South Carolina and Mississippi and was featured in The Raw Society Magazine Issue One & Two with his stories: On The American South: Perspectives from a Perpetual Optimist and American Journalism & Local News.

Kayla Green, writer and copy editor-in-chief for The Raw Society Magazine, has worked in the trenches of local journalism since 2009. After earning her bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Florida, she worked her way up from reporter to her current role as executive editor for a group of newspapers.

She is part of a three-person leadership team that turns failing family-owned newspapers into profitable business models through advertising and newsroom makeovers, transforming traditionally print-only outlets into full-fledged multimedia companies. She currently serves in that role for two properties, The Sumter Item in Sumter, South Carolina, and Gulf Coast Media, in Baldwin County, Alabama, that publish a total of five newspapers.

She has been awarded on the state and national level for her writing and newsroom leadership, including Editor & Publisher's 25 Under 35 Next Gen of News Professionals and reporting on topics ranging from art and entertainment to heroin addiction and child trafficking.