Photographer Mercedes Zapata Creates Altars To Make People Feel Seen
How do we create spaces for people to feel authentically seen? And how do we properly represent people not only for who they are, but how they want to be perceived? These are the types of questions that inform the work of Chicago born photographer Mercedes Zapata, who is known for her lush portraiture and the way she depicts the power, beauty, and vulnerability of poets, artists and activists. Her work has been seen in Poets & Writers Magazine, NYLON, ESSENCE, Pitchfork, Interview Magazine, Spotify, Bustle, The Lily, Chicago Reader, Chicago Red Eye, and in numerous other publications.
“How can we make these sets an experience for someone?” Zapata asked. “I'm honoring who they are, so how can I make them feel most at ease?” Knowing that being photographed is both deeply personal and often anxiety inducing, Zapata incorporates items, plants and fabrics that are significant to her subjects to create an altar where folks can feel safe enough to let their stories shine
One of the most notable things in Zapatas work is her use of fabrics and flowers. With them, Zapata creates portals into other worlds. It’s hard to believe that the intensity and lavishness of her images were created with just drapery, lighting and flowers. “I find that I’m making these fabrics really sculptural and they become a very short lived art piece that is made specifically for who I'm photographing,” Zapata says. “Oftentimes when I’m photographing someone they’ll tell me that they look exactly like a family member or that they feel like they’re channeling their ancestors.”
It's no surprise that the biggest influences on her work has been her own ancestors and family, particularly her grandmother, her tia, and her father. Zapata has been holding a camera most of her life thanks to her tia Belen who taught her how to take photos and credits a lot of her artistic choices to the elegant and soft aesthetics her grandmother loved— things like gardening, embroidery, and lace trims. She also says her father taught her how to be resourceful.
“My dad, he just makes artwork out of everything—anything he finds that is just slightly interesting,” Zapata says. “Even a beverage holder or an old frame or an interesting looking stick— he’s going to make something out of it. And I think it informs me because I don't have to rent out a beautiful velvety hotel room or a house or peer space, I can just create the world I want to see within a studio or any space. I just need to take all these elements that I find and that I find interesting and put them together.”
In fact her resourcefulness is exactly how she got started professionally photographing some of Chicago’s most prominent poets like, José Olivarez, Nate Marshall, Fatimah Asghar, Raych Jackson, Safia Elhillo, Britteney Black Rose Kapri, and E’mon Lauren. And it all started with singer Jamila Woods— “[So in 2019] I was in Plisen walking around one day and I saw [Jamila Wood’s] stylist at a thrift store and it was the day of Pitchfork and I was like, “are you picking out an outfit for Jamila Woods?” And she was like “I am, and if you stick around she’ll be here” and I was like “ok, I just wanted to know” —and I left because I didn’t want to be creepy,” Zapata says with a
As fate would have it she ran into Jamila Woods that same day on her way home from a shoot and asked to take her picture as she waited for an Uber. When Woods randomly saw Zapata’s photographs hanging in a pizza shop art show, she liked it so much that she began hiring her, which led to a poetry organization hiring her too. The rest as they say is history.
For Zapata’s show Connecting With Ancestors at Earthy Corazon, she said she chose photos where the person looked like they were channeling and connecting with their ancestors. She presented 11 portraits that include activists, writers, poets, brujas, mothers, artists, and journalists that she believes are making the world a better place and are honoring their own ancestors through their
Her show will be up at Earthy Corazon through the end of November 2024 and all portraits are for sale. Send all inquiries to create.mercedeszapata@gmail.com