This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/18/no-place-home-judah-passow-review
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| No Place Like Home by Judah Passow – review | No Place Like Home by Judah Passow – review |
| (30 days later) | |
| The Israeli-born, American-educated, London-based photojournalist Judah Passow has spent the best part of the last 30 years travelling the globe. He has won four World Press awards to date for his coverage of the Middle East conflict, and his acclaimed documentary photographs of war-torn areas around the world have been exhibited in galleries and museums in Europe, the US and Israel. | The Israeli-born, American-educated, London-based photojournalist Judah Passow has spent the best part of the last 30 years travelling the globe. He has won four World Press awards to date for his coverage of the Middle East conflict, and his acclaimed documentary photographs of war-torn areas around the world have been exhibited in galleries and museums in Europe, the US and Israel. |
| This international figure undoubtedly has a unique perspective on the meaning of home, a theme he has explored in depth for his latest project, probably his most personal to date. The idea arose in 2008 after the death of his father, who was a rabbi and a historian, and who spent his life exploring questions of Jewish identity. Keen to produce a series of photographs that honoured his father's values, passion and vision, Passow began visiting Jewish communities in London, Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester and many other, smaller British cities and towns with a Jewish presence. He spent a considerable amount of time in these places, in private homes, synagogues, communal spaces and family celebrations, exploring the meaning of home in all its aspects for the British Jewish community today. The resulting black and white photographs are stunning artworks in their own right, which manage to affectionately but unsentimentally document the great range and diversity of contemporary Jewish life in 21st‑century Britain. | This international figure undoubtedly has a unique perspective on the meaning of home, a theme he has explored in depth for his latest project, probably his most personal to date. The idea arose in 2008 after the death of his father, who was a rabbi and a historian, and who spent his life exploring questions of Jewish identity. Keen to produce a series of photographs that honoured his father's values, passion and vision, Passow began visiting Jewish communities in London, Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester and many other, smaller British cities and towns with a Jewish presence. He spent a considerable amount of time in these places, in private homes, synagogues, communal spaces and family celebrations, exploring the meaning of home in all its aspects for the British Jewish community today. The resulting black and white photographs are stunning artworks in their own right, which manage to affectionately but unsentimentally document the great range and diversity of contemporary Jewish life in 21st‑century Britain. |
| Originally conceived for an exhibition at the Jewish Museum in 2012, nearly 100 photographs from this series have now been published in a beautifully produced book, with an excellent introduction by Jonathan Freedland. | Originally conceived for an exhibition at the Jewish Museum in 2012, nearly 100 photographs from this series have now been published in a beautifully produced book, with an excellent introduction by Jonathan Freedland. |
| No Place Like Home is a joy to own, best viewed with friends and family around a table. Everyone will have an opinion about these photographs, as each one seems to promote lengthy discussion, heated debate and much gentle laughter. While there is plenty of visible humour on show, this is clearly a serious project, which reveals Passow's passion for and intimate understanding of the subject. | No Place Like Home is a joy to own, best viewed with friends and family around a table. Everyone will have an opinion about these photographs, as each one seems to promote lengthy discussion, heated debate and much gentle laughter. While there is plenty of visible humour on show, this is clearly a serious project, which reveals Passow's passion for and intimate understanding of the subject. |
| Many of the photographs in the book are anti-stereotypical (in the words of my 12-year-old son), filled with rarely recorded, universally understood private moments in time. Everyone, Jewish or not, will find something familiar here, such as the woman preparing a family meal in her kitchen, or the nurse in conversation with a relative in the corridor of a care home, or the children elbowing their way to the front of a crowded buffet, the police officer questioning a teenage boy on the street about a robbery and the woman holding her head in her hands in a domestic violence shelter. These particular photographs seem to reflect as much about British society today as they do about Britain's Jewish community. | Many of the photographs in the book are anti-stereotypical (in the words of my 12-year-old son), filled with rarely recorded, universally understood private moments in time. Everyone, Jewish or not, will find something familiar here, such as the woman preparing a family meal in her kitchen, or the nurse in conversation with a relative in the corridor of a care home, or the children elbowing their way to the front of a crowded buffet, the police officer questioning a teenage boy on the street about a robbery and the woman holding her head in her hands in a domestic violence shelter. These particular photographs seem to reflect as much about British society today as they do about Britain's Jewish community. |
| Other images in the book portray a distinctive, religiously observant community, immersed in traditional Jewish customs and activities: a bearded shochet, poised with meat cleaver in hand, preparing to slaughter a chicken in a kosher abattoir in Luton; an orthodox man wrapped in a tallis pausing for morning prayers, while standing in the doorway of a kitchen in Birmingham; young male yeshiva students in Gateshead poring over the Talmud and an elderly rabbi in full regalia inspecting an etrog for use during the festival of Sukkot in London. These timeless photographs instantly bring to mind Roman Vishniac's much-loved and widely reproduced A Vanished World project – a record of Jewish life in the shtetls and villages of eastern Europe in the 1930s. Passow's images of orthodox life, much like Vishniac's, serve as visual reminders of the continuity of observant Jewish practice. | Other images in the book portray a distinctive, religiously observant community, immersed in traditional Jewish customs and activities: a bearded shochet, poised with meat cleaver in hand, preparing to slaughter a chicken in a kosher abattoir in Luton; an orthodox man wrapped in a tallis pausing for morning prayers, while standing in the doorway of a kitchen in Birmingham; young male yeshiva students in Gateshead poring over the Talmud and an elderly rabbi in full regalia inspecting an etrog for use during the festival of Sukkot in London. These timeless photographs instantly bring to mind Roman Vishniac's much-loved and widely reproduced A Vanished World project – a record of Jewish life in the shtetls and villages of eastern Europe in the 1930s. Passow's images of orthodox life, much like Vishniac's, serve as visual reminders of the continuity of observant Jewish practice. |
| Other photographs examine the cultural life of secular Jews living in the UK today. We see a woman playing bridge at a fund-raising tournament in a West End hotel; members of the London Maccabi Lions football team in the changing room after a game; pensioners in deckchairs enjoying the sea air, teenagers at a pop concert, and a late-night party in the East End of London for the launch of EasyJet's new route to Tel Aviv. An Israeli flag dominates the background of the latter image and recurs in many other pictures throughout the book, reflecting the deep connection to Israel felt by many British Jews. Other photographs, however, reveal the anti-Zionist sentiments felt by some British Jews – such as the photograph of a Jewish demonstrator from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign protesting against the launch of the new air route to Tel Aviv by writing "Boycott Israel" in stones on the sand. | Other photographs examine the cultural life of secular Jews living in the UK today. We see a woman playing bridge at a fund-raising tournament in a West End hotel; members of the London Maccabi Lions football team in the changing room after a game; pensioners in deckchairs enjoying the sea air, teenagers at a pop concert, and a late-night party in the East End of London for the launch of EasyJet's new route to Tel Aviv. An Israeli flag dominates the background of the latter image and recurs in many other pictures throughout the book, reflecting the deep connection to Israel felt by many British Jews. Other photographs, however, reveal the anti-Zionist sentiments felt by some British Jews – such as the photograph of a Jewish demonstrator from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign protesting against the launch of the new air route to Tel Aviv by writing "Boycott Israel" in stones on the sand. |
| Passow has also captured the patriotic allegiance to queen and country observed by most British Jews, orthodox and secular alike. One photograph shows a group at a Jewish day centre for elderly people, waving union flags while singing "Rule Britannia" at the end of a variety show. In another we see two Jewish ex-servicemen, wearing bowler hats and suits, with remembrance poppies in their lapels, standing proudly on parade in Whitehall. Yet another focuses on a wooden panel hanging on the wall of an orthodox synagogue in London with the prayer for the royal family inscribed on it in English (similar plaques can be seen in synagogues throughout the country). Another, taken in an elderly care home in Brighton, shows a pensioner walking past a framed poster from the second world war (for distribution throughout mandate-controlled Palestine) with a photograph of Winston Churchill on it and Hebrew writing beneath, which translates as: "We shall win – Winston Churchill, the British prime minister." | Passow has also captured the patriotic allegiance to queen and country observed by most British Jews, orthodox and secular alike. One photograph shows a group at a Jewish day centre for elderly people, waving union flags while singing "Rule Britannia" at the end of a variety show. In another we see two Jewish ex-servicemen, wearing bowler hats and suits, with remembrance poppies in their lapels, standing proudly on parade in Whitehall. Yet another focuses on a wooden panel hanging on the wall of an orthodox synagogue in London with the prayer for the royal family inscribed on it in English (similar plaques can be seen in synagogues throughout the country). Another, taken in an elderly care home in Brighton, shows a pensioner walking past a framed poster from the second world war (for distribution throughout mandate-controlled Palestine) with a photograph of Winston Churchill on it and Hebrew writing beneath, which translates as: "We shall win – Winston Churchill, the British prime minister." |
| For me, the most interesting photograph in the whole collection was taken outside the entrance to the orthodox synagogue of my home town of Southend. It shows an oversized Star of David floating against a black background. Standing in front of this most potent of all Jewish symbols is an elderly (you can tell by the hands) man, or woman (you cannot see their face), who has raised his/her sweatshirt over his/her face, presumably in an attempt not to be caught on camera. This perfectly composed photograph is an ambiguous image. It seems to show a private, mysterious, closed and out-and-proud community all at the same time. | For me, the most interesting photograph in the whole collection was taken outside the entrance to the orthodox synagogue of my home town of Southend. It shows an oversized Star of David floating against a black background. Standing in front of this most potent of all Jewish symbols is an elderly (you can tell by the hands) man, or woman (you cannot see their face), who has raised his/her sweatshirt over his/her face, presumably in an attempt not to be caught on camera. This perfectly composed photograph is an ambiguous image. It seems to show a private, mysterious, closed and out-and-proud community all at the same time. |
| The meaning of any of these photographs cannot be fully grasped in a first viewing. Like the reading of Jewish texts, these images are multi-layered, complex and filled with hidden depths. They demand careful and repeated attention. Each "reading" reveals something new, and each picture seems to ask more questions than it answers. | The meaning of any of these photographs cannot be fully grasped in a first viewing. Like the reading of Jewish texts, these images are multi-layered, complex and filled with hidden depths. They demand careful and repeated attention. Each "reading" reveals something new, and each picture seems to ask more questions than it answers. |
| • Rachel Lichtenstein's Diamond Street: The Hidden World of Hatton Garden is published by Hamish Hamilton. | • Rachel Lichtenstein's Diamond Street: The Hidden World of Hatton Garden is published by Hamish Hamilton. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |
| Write your review of this or any other book, find out what other readers thought or add it to your lists |
Previous version
1
Next version