NYC Dance Project was created by the husband and wife team of Ken Browar and Deborah Ory, who live in Brooklyn, New York. Ken worked was as a fashion photographer, and Deborah brings to the project a background in dance and editorial photography. Together, they created the project to showcase the wonderful world of dance and dancers, centered in New York City. Ken’s passion for dance began when he lived in Paris and photographed dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet.

Deborah has been a dancer since she was 7 and she began her photography career when injured as a dancer—she started photographing the rehearsals she could not be in due to her injury. After moving to New York City and working as a Photography Editor at magazines such as House & Garden, Mirabella and others, she began shooting editorial work for publications and advertising work.

NYC Dance Project is a collaboration between Deborah and Ken and merges their experiences and creative passions to create unique and beautiful portraits of the dance community. The project is not just a collaboration between the photographers, but is also one with their subjects.  Each shoot is prepared as though it were its own dance production, with attention paid to every detail - the movement, lighting and the feeling each photograph evokes.

NYC Dance Project has been featured in many magazines, including in Harper’s Bazaar, Italian Vogue and Dior Magazine. Their work has been featured internationally in press such as CNN, The NY Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The London Times, and many others. Ken and Deborah’s photography book on dance, The Art of Movement, was published in 2016, and a sequel about the intersection of fashion and dance, The Style of Movement: Fashion and Dance, was published in 2019.  Both books have won International Photography Awards and have been bestsellers on Amazon and other bookstores.

Ken Browar and Deborah Ory have had their work exhibited worldwide and have their work represented by several galleries and museums.  Their work was featured in solo exhibitions at the Lanoue Gallery in Boston, the Holden Luntz Gallery in Palm Beach and at the Hunter Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  They are currently working on a new book for the 100th year anniversary of the Martha Graham Dance Company.