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Evan Michael Solís
Evan Michael Solís
The Texas Oral History Project
On View: Nov 22 – Dec 21, 2025
Opening Reception: Nov 22, 6-9PM
Bronx Documentary Center Annex
364 E. 151st St.
Bronx, NY 10455
Please note the gallery will
be closed for Thanksgiving
Nov 27 – 30, 2025
Gallery Hours: Thur-Fr 3-7PM
+ Sat-Sun 1-5PM
Free admission.
The Texas Oral History Project is an ongoing documentary archive capturing intimate portraits and interviews that reveal the diverse stories, memories, and aspirations of Texans in the 21st century.
This exhibition was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and Clif Family Foundation, Chris Hondros Fund, Four Friends Foundation, Ford Foundation, Jonathan Logan Foundation, Lawrence Foundation, Matisse Foundation, Peck Foundation, Scherman Foundation, and the Van Agtmael Fund.
Header image: Lobito and Lobo, AKA Noa and David Alcantar. Born on November 18th, 2011 and October 16th, 1985 in El Paso, Texas.
The Texas Oral History Project is an ongoing effort to document the stories of the people of Texas in the 21st century: their wants and their needs; their triumphs and regrets; their memories of the past and their hopes for the future., Each entry is meant to serve as a brief but meaningful glimpse into the life of an individual living in Texas at this moment in time.
Each participant takes part in an oral history interview, ranging in length from thirty minutes to three hours. Their portrait is taken in black and white film with a 4×5 large-format camera. This process creates an image rich in material and emotional detail.
The archive is in its second year and currently houses approximately 150 portraits and stories. Interviews have been conducted in 15 cities and one Native American reservation in Texas. The participants hail from over 70 different towns and cities from across the world, and range in age from 12 to 102.
This exhibition is the culmination of a series of slow, meditative processes. Each portrait in this exhibition was shot with a 4×5 film camera, a large format that is cumbersome, deliberate, and unsuited for quick work. The set-up creates a unique, relaxing energy between photographer and subject, often resulting in a powerful portrait. The negative for each image seen here was developed by hand, almost always in motel bathrooms at the end of a day’s shooting.
Developing the negatives in this way is an imperfect art, not a science: scratches, splotches, and other marks are evident in some of these images, and are the natural results of this artisanal process. These prints were made by hand in the BDC darkroom, in a multi-week marathon of over 100 hours of printing. Each print presented its own unique challenges, some more than others: one print might be completed in 15 minutes, another might require over 12 hours of work.
Some of the darkroom notes and evidence of this process are on display here as well.
Thank you to my brother, Andrew Hearn, for his help in printing this work: prints made by him are noted as such. I would like to give special thanks to Lenny Medina, Pablo Inirio, Sid Kaplan, and Mike Kamber for their advice and help in this process. Thanks to Mom and Dad for everything.
Evan Michael Solís is a public school teacher and a native Texan. He has a decade of experience in radio and multimedia journalism, and has reported from South America, the United States, and Southeast Asia. For his work, he has received a Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting Fellowship and a duPont-Columbia Award Fellowship. Solís is the founder and director of the Texas Oral History Project, a 501(c)(3) organization.
