Eva Zar: Dreams Worth The Hustle

Every photo you snap of someone is a gift, never to be taken for granted – New York-based photographer Eva Zar’s imagery is all about the glow and mystique many of us are secretly longing for. A curious talent both behind the camera and in real life, we asked Eva about photographing young lovers in Vienna while still in school, her unique take on documentary work, and how befriending a group of strippers opened a new chapter in her story.

Tell us a little about your upbringing in Vienna. Looking back, growing up there, how has the city influenced your social and career choices?

I was born and raised in Vienna, but my family is originally from Dagestan. So growing up, I always felt like I had access to two different worlds. I spoke German, I went to school there, but we spoke Russian at home, we had Russian food and all that. I’ve never felt like it’s this or that, I could have both.

It’s kinda funny though, I ended up living in New York. I’ve always been an immigrant and now I’m in the ultimate place for all immigrants.

What gave you your start in photography?

When I was still at school, I got a chance to work at VICE in Austria. They were doing this editorial photo series, called Isn’t She Lovely?, featuring girls and boys, and they wanted to expand and shoot couples, too. They named it Aren’t They Lovely? and I was brought on board for that. It was a 12-month assignment, photographing couples. They liked my style, and although I was really young, they gave me a chance.

VICE around that time was the place where they weren’t really paying you any money, but they let you do whatever you wanted to do. There were no creative limitations, and some people obviously took that to the extreme and just did badass shit.

I felt very lucky because as a young girl, it was really hard to get photo jobs. I also felt like there wasn’t much commercial interest in the intimate photography style I was doing. So when I got awarded a full-ride scholarship to Parsons, I took my chances and moved to New York. Now the city really starts to feel like home.

Tell us about your ongoing series, God Is A Stripper. Who or what was your entry point into this world?

I spent a long time photographing drag queens – whether for myself, Gay Times, Grindr, or other projects – which made me think deeply about identity. What we see on stage is only a fragment of a much larger reality. With strippers, I feel like their world has been heavily shaped by Hollywood’s portrayal, and the focus is usually on the strip club rather than on the girls themselves.

I found this New York stripper on TikTok, and I texted her something like, “You’re so cool would you like to shoot with me?”. She actually responded, telling me that I should come by her club. So I did. She was really sweet.

Do you consider your creative approach to be closer to documentarian, like constantly on standby looking for the right moments to capture, or do you prefer to have a clear concept laid out before every shoot?

I don’t go in there, like, let’s see what’s gonna happen. I have a bit of a framework but also like to leave space for the magic to happen. I think when you photograph people, every photo that you take of someone is like a gift from them – the right to photograph a little piece of someone’s life you get to share with the world. I never want to take that for granted.

My images are docu-works but through the lens of fantasy. They’re rooted in reality, just like my drag queens, my strippers are real strippers with real lives and real struggles – that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve and are worthy of fantasy-like imagery. For me, there can be a world in docu that’s beautiful and iconic, not just rooted in voyeurism. We all want to escape reality sometimes: docu work can exist in a space that’s both raw and beautiful, without stripping away the subjects’ agency or mystique.

What can you, as a photographer, do to help people like them open up in settings like this?

Honestly, most of these girls are on TikTok, they’re on Instagram, they take selfies all the time. We live in a world where people are really good at photographing themselves.

Yet having someone taking your picture is an entirely different story which is new to most. I always shoot on film and I always carry Polaroids and a small digital camera with me. It’s not flashy, but a fun setup. Because of the limitations of the formats I work with, the moments I capture are very precious to me. It’s all about collaboration. It’s creating art together. I like playfulness, I like world-building.

And I hope I can help my girls into this state of mind where they can live out some fantasies. I’m just a vessel that captures their perception of themselves.

What is something new to you that you learned while getting to know the girls?

One of the strippers I shot with said, you deserve everything you dream of. Your dream is worth the hustle: everyone has their own dreams and goals – but I think going all in on whatever it is, is worth it. In German, we have a saying “wenn schon, denn schon”. It’s basically saying if you’re even going to attempt doing something, do it, but like, for real. Go all out. Regardless of the size of your dream, if you don’t push yourself, you’ll disappoint yourself.

Living in New York, you meet so many people here who hustle hard. We all come here to chase our dreams, regardless of our different industries. Working with my girls has been a great reminder that our motivations in life aren’t that far apart.

Out of all the life stories you encounter and document, which ones resonate with you the most?

There’re so many – but I met this one girl, really young, 21. We were sitting on the locker room floor and instead of shooting, we ended up yapping for like two hours. She had just moved to the city all alone and got out of an abusive relationship. When I met her, she just moved into her first apartment after living in a shelter. She was so, so, so excited about her first place and it made me realize that things we often take for granted are things other people work really hard for. It was a reminder of how resilient we can be, how there is strength in vulnerability. There she was, in front of my lens, thriving and living her best New York life.

All images by Eva Zar, from God Is A Stripper and other series.

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