anderson zaca

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For three months, Anderson Zaca traveled to every borough with a camera and a quest.

The result—Summer Soul: New York City’s Block Parties—captures over 50 New York block parties in all of their revelry.

Bear St and Burgher Ave block party, Staten Island, 2009

© Anderson Zaca

Block parties are the heart and soul of New York City summers. Using a 35mm camera, Zaca’s photographs capture the spirit and personality of this great city’s people—the interaction between the young and old, friendly competition in games of dominos and spades, children basking in the water of open fire hydrants, and the communion that happens over the hallowed barbeque grill. In over 2400 photographs, the images show people of all ethnicities, races, and classes—New Yorkers—coming together through a New York tradition, the block party.

“This beautiful body of work actually began before I even realized I was working on it. I really wanted to document the city, and when I started looking at some old images, I realized I had started shooting block parties years ago in 2006, in my old neighborhood in Crown Heights. So I decided to pick up where I left off, but expand it—go to every borough and every different type of community.

“Every weekend, I went all over the city to a different block party. I was intrigued by the differences in how each of the blocks celebrate their uniqueness, and how willing they are to open themselves up. I wanted to find the commonalities between the different neighborhoods and how they celebrated their blocks.

“In some of the neighborhoods I went to in East New York, some people did not want me to be there. But then there were other places, like New Lots, where I was received with open arms.

The block parties really are a way to show regional pride. When I showed up with my camera, most people were eager to show me around, and I got this sense that people were proud to be from that block. This is really what makes this traditional special.”