I recently had the honor of photographing Tanya Birl-Torres and Reza Salazar for The Zora Project, their collaborative residency at The Shed in NYC. We met at the Dyckman Farmhouse in Inwood; a location that felt deeply rooted in history, which made it the perfect backdrop for a project centered around ancestral storytelling, legacy, and cultural reclamation.
The Zora Project is a stunning tribute to the life and work of Zora Neale Hurston, the groundbreaking writer, folklorist, anthropologist, and theater-maker whose contributions during the Harlem Renaissance continue to ripple through art and culture today. Tanya and Reza are drawing inspiration from Hurston’s vast body of work; her stories, songs, and scholarship, to develop a nontraditional musical theater piece that breathes life into her words for a new generation.
Their vision is both powerful and intimate: to “gather the folk” once again, using movement, music, readings, and workshops to bridge the gap between creativity and community. It’s a yearlong journey of exploration, grounded in the belief that our art is inseparable from our lived experience; that it is, as Hurston wrote, “the boiled-down juice of human living.”
Photographing Tanya and Reza at the farmhouse was a privilege. There was a quiet strength to the space and a sense of reverence in the air. I aimed to capture not just portraits, but a feeling; an echo of Zora herself, whose legacy lives on through the stories we continue to tell.
Stay tuned for more as their work with The Zora Project unfolds throughout the year. You can follow The Shed for updates on upcoming events and public programs tied to the residency.
