Meet Zarita Zevallos | Architect / Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Zarita Zevallos and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Zarita, what’s your definition for success?
I think there are multiple ways to feel successful. For me, if I achieve two things, I feel accomplished. The first is finalizing my project as I imagined it, from shoot to editing. The second is through my concepts, even though I clarify the meaning behind my photoseries, I always leave subtleties and hope that the public can read into them. Oftentimes during Q+A with other artists, collectors and/or Historians, those conversations come up. I’m ecstatic when that happens.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’d like to think that Art brings us together rather than setting an individual apart. I think we all express ourselves differently but all of our pieces come together. What helped me in my craft was my background in Architecture. How I print out my photos and edit them by hand and then, digitally, caused an interest in my work. How I edit black skin also was a point of interest. I also think that at the time, in the Haitian artworld, Men were mostly known as established Photographers. I’m proud to be one of the Haitian Women Photographers leaving behind a footprint.

In my own Haitian community, no it’s not easy. It still isn’t. I think it’s really difficult to have support as an artist when you speak your mind and go against the grain. It’s not like other countries where your activism is a strong suit.

It’s unfortunate to say and I am grateful for it, but most of my support comes from the Hispanic, African and African-American community. I am still pushing to gain that access and support from my own country. It’s a battle I am still facing and haven’t figured out yet. I do have to say that being known is not my goal.

I want my work to be known as hypersensitive. By that, I mean that whatever material I use to edit my photos, the viewer feels the emotion on the photograph and coming out of it. I want people to feel the emotion twice and want to go as far as carrying that with them around the space that I intend on curating.

That’s what I aim for. A moment dedicated for emotional release, empathy, access, humanity for the other and ourselves.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take her to ‘Devocion’ coffee shop in williamsburg, brooklyn . They have an open atrium with a greenwall. She’s a sucker for coffee, interior design and architecture. I would also bring her to my absolute favorite location in Manhattan to catch up on our lives, it’s an interior garden/atrium with a fountain in the middle. It’s MAGICAL. I don’t want to share where it is because if it becomes a tiktok trend, I will cry my heart out.

Then, we would take knife making classes (we are both gothic at heart). Interior hiking and I would actually ask her to bring me to her Muay Thai classes. She’s not much of a ‘club’ person so a lot of our outings would evolve around learning new skills, discussing theories/blackness and going small movie theaters like the Metrograph or catching an Alvin Ailey show.

She’s a bit a of snob if she’ll admit it, lol.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Absolutely. I usually shoutout my Father because he is the reason why I chose photography as a hobby but everything I’ve learned from my family, I incorporate in my work. From the confidence and philosophy my father shared with me, to the stubbornness to complete my projects the way ‘I’ see fit, like my Mother. Also, the sense of ‘uniqueness’ (Art/Fashion) leadership from my siblings.

Website: https://infi-nerdy.com/

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Image Credits
Tina Rateau Remington Alexander