01/21

Featured Photographer: Stuart Zaro

Stuart Zaro – photograph by Spencer Lum

It’s rare to find insightful photographers. The majority shoot what happens with little thought to their personal vision. Insight is looking not just at something but into it. To fill an image with a potentiality that expands our awareness of the world. It surprises in its plainness, leaving us to wonder how something so simple could say so much. Stuart Zaro is exactly that type of photographer.

I met with Stuart one morning at his factory in New York. After having studied film and TV at what would become Tisch School of the Arts, he eventually moved into the family business, running the successful Zaro’s Bakery stores throughout the City. But between family and a busy work life, he’s managed to maintain a lifelong passion for photography that’s led him to all corners of the Earth, including Bhutan, Kenya, and Vietnam. His book can be purchased at the Blurb book store here.

Every photographer has a comfort zone. It’s a common misconception that a good photographer can shoot well in any circumstance. Photography is too personal an endeavor for that. Environment and subject are sustenance for the photographer, but what fuels one person can exhaust another. A lifelong New Yorker, Stuart has largely avoided photography in New York City. “Where everyone else wanted to come into the City, I simply couldn’t wait to get out,” he said, so a study of New York’s most recognized landmarks was an ironic twist for his current project. It was the perfect subject for him. His work has always demonstrated the ability to find the uncommon in the ordinary, and through the City, he merges that introspection with the unrelenting energy of New York. The result is a surprising stillness amidst the hustle and bustle.

Below are some featured works.

Stuart Zaro
Website: stuartzaro.com

Above images by Stuart Zaro