LOS ANGELES—Sofia Zaragoza steps away from performing to collaborate with photographer Christopher Alexander in recreating a historic 19th-century photograph of a sex worker.
The image will be released across Zaragoza’s social media and subscription platforms, with behind-the-scenes content documenting the creative process. The starlet is known for her onscreen work and as the owner of her production brand, Zaragoza Studio.
The starlet and producer teamed with Alexander of Xanders Models to recreate an image from the late 1800s. Zaragoza sought to capture the aesthetic and mood of some of the earliest known brothel photographs, taken in the 1890s by William Goldman in Pennsylvania. These rare images documented women working in an upscale brothel and remain among the earliest visual records of sex workers in American history.
The recreation blends modern photography techniques with vintage styling to pay homage to the women whose lives were quietly documented in the vintage photos.
“Sex workers have always been part of history, but their stories were rarely told with dignity,” Zaragoza said. “Recreating this image is about honoring the women who came before us and acknowledging that sex work has always existed—even when society tried to hide it.”
Alexander, an internationally published photographer whose work has appeared in hundreds of magazines, used lighting, wardrobe and period-accurate posing to echo the visual tone of late-19th-century portrait photography. The collaboration highlights Zaragoza’s interest in blending erotic art with historical and cultural storytelling.
“This project isn’t just about recreating a photograph,” Alexander said. “It’s about bridging over a century of sex-positive expression through art.”
For more information, visit ZaragozaStudio.com or follow Zaragoza on X and OnlyFans.
