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WAY THROUGH THE ABYSS

jews in the 20th century

 

 

 

Richard Tuschman (USA). Working Morning

   
 

Richard Tuschman (USA)

Once Upon A Time In Kazimierz

 

 

 

 

Once Upon A Time In Kazimierz is a novella told in staged photographs. It portrays an episode in the life of a fictional Jewish family living in Krakow, Poland in the year 1930. Set in the historically Jewish neighborhood of Kazimierz, the series was inspired by visits to Krakow, where my wife, Ewa, grew up and attended University. This is also not far from where many of my own East European Jewish ancestors lived before immigrating to America around 1900. The project is my attempt to visually weave together narrative fiction with strands of both cultural and family history, while paying homage to painters I love, like Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Balthus, and Di Chirico, as well as photographers like Bill Brandt.

Dreamlike and poetic in style, Once Upon A Time In Kazimierz tells a tale primarily of loss. Death, the fraying of family bonds, and feelings of grief haunt many of the images, but these are also punctuated by moments of love, longing, and tenderness. The neighborhood of Kazimierz itself is a metaphor for loss and decay. As described in 1935 by the Jewish historian, Meir Balaban, by then the Jews remaining in the “once vibrant” neighborhood of Kazimierz were “only the poor and the ultraconservative.” And while the series takes place some years before the death camps of the Holocaust, a growing darkness is apparent, along with the underlying awareness that most likely and tragically, the fates of all of the characters are doomed by history.

   
 

Richard Tuschman (USA). Once Upon

   
 

The images in Once Upon A Time In Kazimierz were created by digitally marrying dollhouse-size dioramas with live models. First, I built, painted and photographed the sets in my studio. I then photographed the live models against a plain backdrop, and lastly, made the digital composites in Photoshop. This way of working affords me control over the elements of set design, lighting, and composition.  All of these aspects are significantly inspired by both theatre and cinema, as well as the artists I mentioned.  While I strive to make the miniature sets as convincing as possible, they deviate just enough from reality to enhance the theatrical, slightly surreal mood.  

All of the images in Once Upon A Time In Kazimierz are linked to a larger narrative arc. While I have a particular sequence of events in my own mind, I like to think of this story as open-ended, perhaps as movie stills from an unseen motion picture. Thus, each viewer is left to ponder and interpret each image, to fill in the gaps between the images, or to rearrange their chronological sequence. It is my hope that in this way, the pictures in Once Upon A Time In Kazimierz reflect the fleeting, fluid nature of both memory, and of dreams.

RICHARD TUSCHMAN began experimenting with digital imaging in the early 1990’s, developing a style that synthesized his interests in photography, painting and assemblage. He has been exhibited widely, both in the US and internationally. Accolades and awards include Prix de la Photographie Paris (Gold Medal, People's Choice), Critical Mass Top 50, International Kontinent Awards (1st Place, Fine Art Projects) and Center Project Launch Juror's Award (chosen by Roger Watson, Fox Talbot Museum) among others. His photographs have been published on numerous online magazines/journals including Slate, LensCulture, LensScratch and Huffington Post. In 2016 he was named a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow in Photography. He currently lives and works in New York and Europe.

 

 

 

Richard Tuschman (USA). Pale Light

 

 

 

 

Cole Thompson (USA)

Ghosts of Auschwitz

   

 

What can be said about Auschwitz-Birkenau that hasn't already been said? What can be photographed at those sacred places that hasn't already been photographed?

As I thought about what had occurred there I wondered how any human could do such in­humane things, and then I recalled " The Mysterious Stranger" by Mark Twain. In this story a young boy named Seppi is talking to Satan about a man who had brutally beaten his dog. Seppi declared that this man's act was inhumane, to which Satan responded:

"No, it wasn't Seppi; it was human—quite distinctly human.”

Satan points out that no other creature on the planet would treat another this way...except humans.

I had not intended to photograph during my tour of the camps but after being there a few minutes, I felt compelled. With every step I wondered about the people whose feet had walked in exactly the same footsteps as mine. I wondered if their spirits still lingered there today.

And so I photographed ghosts.

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

At 14 years of age, I knew I was destined to be a fine art photographer. While hiking in Rochester, NY I stumbled across the ruin of an old home that George Eastman had once owned. This piqued my interest and I read his biography. I was fascinated with photography and before I had completed the book, before I had even taken a photograph or seen a print develop in the darkroom, I knew that I was going to be a photographer. For the next 10 years photography was my complete existence, if I wasn't taking pictures or working in the darkroom, I was reading every book and looking at every image I could find. There was nothing in my life but photography.

Even at this early age I found myself drawn to a particular style of image, one that would literally cause a physical reaction in me. They were dark images created by Adams, Weston, Bullock and others. I knew that I was destined to create such images.

I am often asked, “Why black and white?” I think it's because I grew up in a black-and-white world. Television, movies and the news were all in black and white. My heroes were in black and white and even the nation was segregated into black and white. My images are an extension of the world in which I grew up.

For me color records the image, but black and white captures the feelings that lie beneath the surface.

My art has appeared in many exhibitions, publications and has received numerous awards. And yet my resume does not list those accomplishments, why?

I believe that the best success is achieved internally, not externally. Some have asked about my qualifications given my non-traditional resume and I answer: “My images are my qualifications, nothing else matters.”

 

 

 

 

 

Gabi Ben Avraham (Israel)

   
 

I am an Israeli photographer (58), I live in Tel Aviv and work in a software company. After flirting with an initial fascination with photography and film cameras in the 1980's, I went on to pursue a career as an IT manager and put my love for the still image aside. Fortunately, my interest never disappeared. While the passion lay dormant for decades, all it took was the gift of a camera from my wife to awaken my inclination towards photography again.

The Street is not a Studio. Sometimes I stand and wait for things to converge – a cyclist, a dancer, a child – moving along. Street Photography/Documentary is my favorite way of looking at the world.

My camera has become an integral part of me and I cannot imagine myself without it. Everywhere I go I take it with me thinking 'maybe today will be my lucky day and I will take the photo of my life'. Via the camera lens I am constantly looking around me, searching for that 'decisive' moment that will never return, unless I catch it. When pushing the button, I try to make some sense, restore order to the chaotic scheme of things in the composition, tell the story behind the scene and frame a surrealistic moment. The components 'speak' with each other in a special dialogue, either by color, shape, or light. Capturing the elusive, special moment after which things will never be the same and making it eternal – that is my goal.

 

 

 

 

Gabi Ben Avraham (Israel). Carmel Market, Tel Aviv, 2017

   
 

Forgotten, transparent people in urban surroundings are being granted their moment of grace. The shadows, fragile outlines, reflections within daily lives that are not noticed in the busy and thick urban landscape and sometimes are even crushed by it – these are precious to me. Those expressions and compositions are to be treasured before they are lost in time.

Like a fisherman who goes to his daily work without knowing what he will catch, I take my camera and dive into the streets without knowing what will happen five minutes later. It is an adventure. When I click I try to see the surreal and to sort things out of their everyday meaning and their usual context. I have my favorite places and I never come with the same photos. It is always different: the people, the light and shadows, the atmosphere.

At a single click, I try to fill the insignificance around me with significance and  create a private and intimate hallucination in order to share it with the viewer. Even though the moment fades, it is burnt in the memory of the viewer.

I am a member of "Thestreetcollective", http://www.thestreetcollective.com/ which was founded in 2013, and have since been documenting the occurrences of the streets from a personal perspective. The Collective's aim is not only to encourage street photography in general, but to offer up and coming street photographers the opportunity to share projects with a larger audience.

   
 

Gabi Ben Avraham (Israel). Purim, Bney Brak, 2017

   
 

Gabi Ben Avraham (Israel). Untitled, Tel Aviv, 2015

   
  Photos of the exhibition © Екатерина Попова:
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   

           
 

 

           

Центр фотографии "Март". Екатеринбург. 8 Марта, 1

Время работы: 11.00 - 22.00 без выходных. Цена билета