Local StoriesFebruary 5, 2026

Inspiring Conversations with Isaac Zapata of Inkwellstudio.io

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Isaac Zapata.

Hi Isaac, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Looking back, I’d say I got lucky.

My mother is a former circus high wire act & gymnast from Brazil, and my father is a former Navy mechanic from the US. They met in New York and eloped to Puerto Rico in the late 1970s. It was a strange start, and being a third culture kid gave me an outsider’s perspective. No matter the culture I found myself in I never fully belonged. Ironically, it also made me endlessly curious about culture and comfortable in situations where I didn’t quite fit in. That outsider perspective still informs so much of what I do today, I’d say it’s turned me into something of a professional stranger.

My luck continued early on. Growing up, my neighbor was a photographer, and at 14 I started sweeping floors in his studio for extra cash under the table. More importantly, this gave me the opportunity to absorb the basics of photography and design far earlier than most. I built a portfolio that led to opportunities working with the production team for the early Ricky Martin concerts, which in turn landed me my first production job at Telemundo before I even graduated college.

The next 15 to 20 years are something of a blur of work, crazy late nights and creating campaigns and shooting projects for clients like Kia, Yale University, OMP Racing, Telemundo, Hilton Hotels, and more. It’s been an incredible whirlwind of opportunities and experiences I could never have imagined. Still, looking back, I carry this nagging feeling that I’d never truly had the chance to create art purely for myself.

That feeling brings me to today. By day, I run a small boutique design studio as my 9 to 5. But my true passion, the project that consumes nearly every other waking moment is my Landscapes & Gangsters book series. In it, I come full circle as I examine how cultures adapt, blend, and evolve within cities. My photography explores what happens when people from different worlds are thrown together by circumstance and environment, how they shape, and are shaped by, their surroundings.

The first book in the series, Miami AF: Landscapes & Gangsters, (a savvy fusion of history and photography) is still holding strong after two years in the top 10 of Miami bestsellers on Amazon. It debuted at Leica Miami, sold out quickly from physical shelves, and has earned its spot as a go to Miami gift idea. I’m now channeling that momentum into leading Landscapes & Gangsters photo workshops in South Beach, where participants explore former gangster hideouts while I teach photography techniques to a new generation of artists. Blending history, storytelling, and hands on shooting in the very spaces that inspire the series.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
“You can’t be whole, happy or comfortable to make art. Things have to be a mess” I repeat this quote when I want to justify my sometimes questionable choices. Art has always come before everything else. And it makes things messy.

The industry we work in is notoriously difficult, and it required putting art ahead of everything else in my life. Looking back I’d say that subconsciously my obsession with perfection and disregard for everything else have run parallel to each other along the way.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Inkwellstudio.io?
Inkwell Studios LLC. We are a boutique Design, Photography, Illustration. studio focused on branding. Our entire operation is built on a single belief: true art is born from obsession. That same passion fuels our hyper-focused process, combining highly specialized talent with AI-enabled workflows to deliver striking visuals that connect and drive sales.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Being consistent and well organized. I realize that it’s counter intuitive, but I believe being organized and able to focus on completing tasks quickly is overlooked in my field. Often people attribute any success to talent, without mentioning the level of consistency and work it takes to get there.

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