Karen Zang, a lifelong Valley Stream resident and part-time Village Hall employee, has created a distinctive photographic project that captured the everyday faces of local people conducting their village business throughout 2025.
After retiring in 2020 following an 18-year career as executive assistant to the provost at Adelphi University, Zang took a part-time position at Valley Stream’s Village Hall in 2022, a role that reconnected her with the community she has known all her life.
Zang’s family has lived in Valley Stream for 100 years, making her ties to the village deeply rooted. Village Hall itself, which opened nearly 70 years ago, coincides with the year of Zang’s birth, symbolizing the longstanding relationship her family and the community share.
The idea for the photographic project grew organically soon after Zang began working in the building. While performing her duties in the clerk’s office, she regularly saw people she knew coming through the doors for various routine tasks — whether paying property taxes, applying for permits or obtaining parking permits. Often, she would photograph them and share the shots with her husband, Mike Stanko, a well-known local artist and community figure.
“I would say to Michael, ‘Guess who I saw?’” Zang said. “Or somebody would come in and I’d say, ‘Let me take your picture so I can tell Michael that I ran into you.’ And every day, I come home for lunch, and Michael’s like, ‘Who do you see today?’ So it kind of started like that.”
Zang first assembled a similar collection of photos in 2024, which featured about 25 portraits. Encouraged by that experience, she expanded the effort in 2025 into a carefully curated and intentional photo project, containing 50 portraits. These images were arranged chronologically, creating a visual narrative of community life as it unfolded over the year.
Despite working only two to three days a week, Zang’s project captured a significant slice of the village’s population. The photographs document neighbors, close friends, acquaintances and even her husband — all representing the people who keep Valley Stream’s daily government functions moving.
Most individuals welcomed Zang’s request to be photographed once she explained the project. A few hesitated initially or requested that their images not be used, but the majority embraced the idea, offering genuine smiles and moments of lightheartedness. These candid expressions offer an unexpected warmth in a setting typically associated with routine and administrative matters.
The project highlights the human side of Village Hall, a place often perceived as purely business. Through Zang’s lens, the faces of Valley Stream’s residents reveal a community characterized by familiarity, connection and a surprising amount of joy.
“The irony is that most people don’t think that going into a government office is going to be fun, and that’s the whole point of this,” Zang said. “These people look so happy.”
Looking back at the completed project, Zang describes it as a creative outlet that brought fun and meaning to what might otherwise be considered a mundane job. She acknowledges that as more services move online, fewer people may visit Village Hall in person in the future, potentially limiting the scope of the project. Nevertheless, she plans to continue it while the opportunity remains.
Beyond photography, Zang is a committed diarist, having kept a daily journal since 1973. Her volumes of daily prose chronicle decades of her life in meticulous detail. This habit of preserving everyday moments in writing aligns closely with the spirit of her Village Hall photo project, which similarly captures small but significant slices of daily life.
Although her part-time position at Village Hall is a “retirement gig,” Zang values the chance to remain active, engaged and creatively fulfilled in these years. The project has also deepened her connection to Valley Stream, giving her renewed appreciation for the community she calls home.
“Having lived in the village my entire life, I feel as the years go on, especially with this chapter, I feel more connected,” Zang said. “Valley Stream was always a part of me, but I was never really that involved in the community. Now I feel much more connected to my community.”
Her work behind the scenes at Village Hall has offered insight into the complexity of running a village with around 40,000 residents.
Zang’s photographic project offers a unique and intimate portrait of Valley Stream, capturing everyday people who form the fabric of the community. As the village continues to evolve with technological changes and shifting social patterns, her portraits provide a reminder that behind every official task is a person with a story, a smile, and a connection to the place they call home.
