Sign In Forgot Password

Through a Spiritual Lens - A New Photography Exhibit

Thursday, May 16, 2019 11 Iyyar 5779

7:00 PM - 9:00 PM180 Stanton Street

 

On Thursday, May 16, the Stanton Street Shul will present ‘Through A Spiritual Lens,’ an exhibition curated by David Wander, in which six photographers explore issues of religion and spirituality. They are all drawn to images of prayer, memory and community.

The photographers are: James Altman, William Bergman, Frank Jump, Jackson Krule, Erik Lieber, and Randy Matusow.  

Jackson Krule concentrates on a Hasidic community in New York State, photographing men at prayer, festival ceremonies, and lives lived. 

Randy Matusow has photographed bar and bat mitvahs resulting in haunting images. He explains: “While working at these spirited festivities I reconnected to the memories of my own youth. Inspired by these recollections, I found a new vision for my work. I realized that I could edit the pictures in a way that would reflect this vision.”

James Altman says of his work: “My photos focus on Buddhist prayer – not only by monks, but also on ordinary people, in the courtyard, along the walls, and circumambulating the byways of the Jokhang Temple. Many of my photos display reverence, intense emotion, and even trance-like ecstasy of people engaged in prostration and genuine prayer.”  

Frank Jump photographs aging signs and advertisements on New York City buildings. Jump sees his photographs as a metaphor for survival. Jump is HIV positive and, like himself, many of these ads have long outlived their expected life spans. Although this project doesn’t deal directly with HIV/AIDS, it is no accident he’s chosen to document such a transitory and evanescent subject.  

Erik Lieber collages contemporary portraits with photos of grandparents and great-grand parents, producing personal, and generational reflections.  

William Bergman features close-ups of the building blocks of the Holy City of Jerusalem, collected from walls that range from five to 2,800 years old.  Bergman reassembles them, as they have been many times in history, into a single structure. The images on the limestone, made by nature and the quarrying by ancient Jews, Ottomans, Mamelukes and Olim, resemble clouds, planetscapes and matzoh.

Share Print Save To My Calendar
Thu, March 28 2024 18 Adar II 5784