This year marks the centennial of the birth of Irving Penn (1917-2009), a photographer perhaps best known for his work with Vogue. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is celebrating with a retrospective of his career, not only of his work in high fashion, but of his broad interests, from indigenous cultures to sometimes unusual still-lifes.

Penn was from a Jewish family (his brother, director Arthur Penn, also had an artistic eye), and Menachem Wecker once argued in The Forward that a “Jewish humor” pervades his photographs, the way he abstracted detritus of Manhattan streets into high art. But as this exhibit shows, he also held a respect everything, “high” or “low,” on which he cast his eye, and his camera lens. (Is this Jewish, too? Well, what isn’t?)

Every subject of his photo looks like they’re the most important person in the world, whether they’re a celebrity, a supermodel, or a Peruvian laborer. Even the closeup of a discarded cigarette butt (and there are several) becomes riveting.

And so, at this exhibit there’s something for everyone. Do you want to see some of Vogue’s chicest looks, high fashion over the course of decades (he worked with the magazine for a staggering six)? Or do you want to see images of celebrities, both pop culture stars and intelligentsia, from Marlene Dietrich to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, (RBG looking fly, as always). There’s even a room of nude studies, and after decades of photographing nearly identical body types for fashion, Penn was able to indulge a fascination with human shapes you’d pass on the street, once again with respect, attention to detail, drawing the viewer’s eye to what seems to be ordinary in a new way.

For someone who made a name for himself in the most mainstream, high-class photography-oriented magazine of its day, Penn, with Jewish humor or not, was awfully prone to bring the same celebration of culture and design to workers, people in indigenous societies worldwide, even images of fruit. Regardless of the subject, or from when in his long career a photograph dates, each of them is a unique joy to see.

Irving Penn: Centennial runs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through July 30, 2017.

Photo by Irving Penn via the Met.

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You may remember Anton Yelchin for his acting roles in the likes of blockbusters like the Star Trek reboot, or as an indie-darling in films like Only Lovers Left Alive or Like Crazy. Or you may think of him first in the context of Soviet Jewry, an infant refugee to the United States who maintained a strong Jewish identity in adulthood. But you may not have realized that Yelchin was also an experimental photographer.

Yelchin died earlier this year at only 27 in a terrible accident, because 2016 wants to destroy us at every possibly turn. But forty of his photographs are currently on display in an exhibit that reveals his artistic vision.

As Yelchin described his art,”I always have this gnawing desire to create something I agree with emotionally plus the sensation that I know nothing and must learn more.”

Yelchin also kept a photography blog (NSFW), and it’s clear he had an eye for the intersection of freakish and beautiful. One article described his work as “imbued with a paradoxical detached intimacy. They are personal yet isolated, sparse yet heavy.”

The exhibit has also been in the news because celebrities have also flocked to it, including Yelchin’s Star Trek costars (his role in its third installation is posthumous). The Gallery also contains a tribute wall of notes from the public for the late star originally signed during a recent Star Trek convention.

Proceeds from this exhibit go towards the late actor’s foundation, focused on arts education and youth empowerment.

Anton Yelchin’s photography exhibit runs through the end of 2016 at Other Gallery, 1050 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles.

Images via Wikimedia, Extra, and Anton-Yelchin.com.

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In the late 1980s, Crown Heights locals going about their daily routine—rushing to farbrengens (Hasidic gatherings) with their Rebbe, or running errands down Kingston Avenue—might have glimpsed an anomaly in their midst: a Japanese woman, camera in tow, capturing the scenes around her. That woman was Chie Nishio, who spent a few years photographing members of the Chabad-Lubavitch community in Brooklyn, New York. Now, over 20 years later, her collection is finally receiving recognition at an exhibition in the Centreal branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, just a few blocks away from the community she so lovingly documented.

I met Nishio at the library last month to get a personal walkthrough of the photographs on display, 43 from the total collection of over 200 black and white prints. (Color would take away from the subject at hand, she insisted). Now 84, with silver hair framing her face, Nishio hasn’t lost any of the energy, wit and candor of her younger days.

As we scanned the prints she told me how she came to turn her lens on the Hasids of Crown Heights. Her interest was initially sparked by her Jewish husband, the acclaimed author James Trager. Though he was firmly atheist, Trager, now deceased, descended from illustrious lineage; his great-grandfather was one of the founding rabbis of the Jewish community in South Carolina. His grandfather moved to a Reform congregation interstate and the family, Trager included, eventually all assimilated.

Eager to learn more about her husband’s heritage, but with Trager unable to offer much insight, Nishio headed to Brooklyn to learn more about the people of the book. She didn’t have much luck with the strongly insular Satmar community in Williamsburg, where most were unwilling to engage with a foreigner and her camera. But in Crown Heights, a community unique among Hasidic sects for welcoming outsiders, Nishio was welcomed, and over the years she and her camera become a fixture in the Brooklyn enclave. She developed deep friendships with many of her subjects, and to this day she occasionally treks from her home in Manhattan to visit them in Crown Heights.

“I would say it all happened by accident,” Nishio laughs, “but with these people, there’s no such thing as accidental.” She points her finger heavenward. “It’s all arranged by God.”

Her photos offer an expansive yet deeply nuanced glimpse of Chabad life. Centered around the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, they portray a community of believers entrenched in ritual and practice. A one-month old baby laying on a silver tray for his pidyon haben ceremony, draped in cascading jewelry; a Bar Mitzvah boy checking the position of his tefillin in the mirror; a young bride trying on wigs in the salon before her wedding day.

Most notably, perhaps, the photos show the community’s reverence for its beloved leader, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson—known amongst his followers simply as ‘the Rebbe’—in the last years of his life, right before his death in 1994. Though women were not allowed into the main sanctuary of the synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway, Nishio captured the Rebbe from their vantage point in the women’s gallery upstairs. And if the community’s acceptance wasn’t enough, the Rebbe himself seemed to overtly support Nishio’s mission by blessing her on more than one occasion.

In one image the Rebbe uncharacteristically turns aways from the men in the Synagogue, towards Nishio in the women’s gallery above, and hands her a roll of coins. The Rebbe used to hand out dollar bills, and less often coins, with a blessing, as a symbolic gesture to encourage his followers to in turn give the money to charity and pass along the blessing.

“Everyone said I was special,” Nishio told me, “they came up to me after asking for their share in the coins.”

On another occasion, when the Rebbe was handing out honey cake before Rosh Hashanah, he again called over Nishio who was photographing from a distance, giving her a piece of cake and blessings for a sweet year. And Nishio—by her own admission an ardent non-believer—seems to get excited recalling the memory. “Somehow, I don’t know how, he recognized me!” she smiles.

Though ostensibly an outsider, her photos reflect a deep sensitivity and keen understanding of the practices of daily Hasidic life, and also the individuals behind the portraits. They also show the diversity of a community committed to reaching out to and welcoming newcomers to the fold. There’s the bewigged lawyer who gazes out through the frame, the artist surrounded by his artwork inspired by Jewish mysticism, and the mother of six who also edits a magazine.

“I came with no prejudgement,” said Nishio. “Maybe that’s why they were so open to me.”

Nishio, a firm feminist who contributed regularly to Ms. Magazine, hints to a certain kinship with the woman of the community.

“When I came to the United States, people said to me, ‘Oh you’re not typical,’ because they have their own imaginations of what they think a Japanese woman is like. But they don’t know too much about it. Maybe based on a book, maybe they visited Japan and just saw the surface. So what I found in Crown Heights is that, yes, as an outsider walking in, the women are wearing a wig, long skirts, they’re supposed to cover their legs, but you walk in to talk to each family, each woman is different, each individual is different.”

“From the outside and from the inside it’s a completely different story most of the time,” she observed.

Perhaps Nishio is not, after all, an “unlikely portraitist,” but actually the ideal observer of this community, and the perfect person to document the color of its activities—in all the glory of black and white.

The exhibition, ‘The Hasidim of Crown Heights, Brooklyn: A Community Study by Chie Nishio’, is on display at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Central branch through February 1, 2015.

(Image: Chie Nishio)

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If you’re not familiar with the thought-provoking, poignant, delightful photoblog Humans of New York (a.k.a. HONY), today is the day to get yourself acquainted. Since 2010, photographer Brandon Stanton has been wandering the streets of New York, taking portraits of the city’s diverse peoples (and pets), and posting the images on various social media platforms, along with explanatory vignettes. (HONY has 8.4 million followers on Facebook alone.) Sometimes the descriptions are short and functional, but often they’re long discourses on life, love, philosophy, money, and education, told by the subjects themselves. And the comments! Hoo boy. THE COMMENTS. It’s like watching a talmudic debate unfold in the cafeteria of Mean Girls in the midst of a food fight. You will alternately despair for humanity and cackle with glee.

Today, Stanton posted two images of an elderly Holocaust survivor (not identified by name) who fled his home in Germany on Kristallnacht. It’s an extraordinary, harrowing story, and his survival—like that of so many Holocaust survivors—was due to a combination of quick thinking and sheer luck: “We were living on the outskirts of Hanover,” the man begins. “When my father came home from work that night, he told us that the synagogue was on fire, and that firemen were standing in a ring around it to prevent the flames from spreading to other buildings. He said: ‘We’re getting out of here.'”

The family flees to the Philippines, and ultimately have to beg for their lives from the Japanese: “They lined us all up against the wall to be executed. We begged and begged and begged for our lives. They finally allowed my mother and the children to step aside, but they told my father to stay. My mother dropped to her knees and asked the Japanese commander to imagine it was his family. And he finally let all of us go .”

This isn’t the first time Stanton has posted images and stories of Holocaust survivors to HONY. Here’s one from September 2013:

And another from April 2014:

What’s so heartening about these particular Facebook posts—at least for this expletive-weary social media editor—is the graciousness and decency conveyed in the comments, often across vast economic, cultural, and religious differences. (From Anisa Mohamed on the first of today’s posts: “Oh, dear God. I read so many memoirs of Jewish survivors. And their stories make me tear up. I wish you guys never had to go through that. Crystal Night must’ve been the scariest night. I’m sorry.—from your Muslim sister.”) When it comes to talking about the Holocaust, war, and human suffering on HONY, the algorithm is simple: nuanced, compassionate comments are liked “up,” and racist screeds are folded into the dark underbelly of the thread. In these dark days of Facebook trolling and insult-hurling, it’s nice to know that there’s one pocket of the internet where the Golden Rule is honored.

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When I called Ari Seth Cohen for our phone interview, he was at a friend’s house. This friend wasn’t a similarly-aged companion, but instead a 68-year-old woman named Debra who lives on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. I asked if I should call back another time, but Cohen said it was alright, that most of his older female friends don’t mind when he does some press at their homes—after all, what better place to discuss Advanced Style, his street style photography blog, than from the home of one of its subjects.

Although Cohen, 31, was always interested in art and fashion, the inspiration to start photographing older women came from his grandmother, who he calls his best friend. After her death, he decided to pick up a camera as a way to connect with fashionable older people he encountered across New York City. Although Cohen’s photography started as an odd attraction, his dedication to displaying the enthusiasm and vitality of his subjects is incredibly heartfelt. His subject pool includes men and women above 50, but women tend to get the focus thanks to their flair for fashion and makeup.

He has a book out and is producing a documentary about his experience, both called Advanced Style. “Don’t worry about getting older,” one woman explains in the trailer for the film, “every era builds character.”

Did your interest in photography come before your interest in older women or vice versa?

I was always into art; I studied art history in college, but I only started taking pictures five years ago when I moved to New York City. I started with my roommate’s Nikon Coolpix, and then I taught myself how to take better pictures and developed my skill. But photography was just a way for me to connect with older people. I wasn’t planning on being a photographer, it just happened because of the project I was working on.

So there was never a thought to photograph another type of subject?

No. Only older people.

Why?

Well, I grew up in San Diego and my grandmothers were my best friends. I always had a very positive idea of what it’s like to get older because of how fun and interesting they were. One of my grandmothers went to graduate school at Columbia University and she would tell me as a little kid to move to New York if I wanted to be creative.

I finally moved here in 2008 and I approached the city through my grandmother’s eyes. I wanted to meet older people because she had passed away, and then I began meeting all of these incredibly interesting, active old people. At first I wanted to interview them for my own project, which I wasn’t planning on sharing with people. Then I decided I had good material and I started my blog.

What’s a day in the life of Ari Seth Cohen like?

Well, today I woke up and posted on my blog. Then I met up with my friend Debra Rapoport on the Upper East Side, she’s putting together a website for all the hats she makes. After this I plan to walk around the city—I walk everywhere—taking pictures of older men and older women, and hopefully I’ll be able to make connections to interview them and share their stories with other people.

Do the older ladies cook for you, grandma style? Have you recruited recipes?

I do want to work on a blog post of recipes but I haven’t yet. Debra always cooks, and she’s a good cook, but it’s not really a grandmother/grandson relationship between these ladies and me. They are more like my friends. We walk around and go to galleries and museums.

Tomorrow I’m traveling with this 80-year-old woman to a conference in Michigan on elder abuse. We’re going to speak there about the work we do together, which is hopefully changing people’s ideas of what it means to grow old.

What’s the biggest misunderstanding about old people?

I think that people neglect, forget, or ignore older people and don’t realize their worth. They don’t realize that they still want to be heard and that they still have a lot to offer. Oftentimes you look at someone who’s older and you may think they don’t have the same understanding of the world, but all the people I meet are so aware and present.

On your website it says you’re working on an Advanced Style documentary due out this year. What’s the focus of the film?

There are six ladies that my friend and I have been following for the last five years since I first met them on the street. A lot of them have found new careers in modeling and acting all from being exposed on the blog, so it follows their story and the story of the blog.

Where’s the best place to find interesting older people?

Oh definitely uptown, that’s where I spend most of my time.

What’s your favorite part about your job?

First of all, it’s being able to spend time with such incredible people. But over the course of the past two years I’ve also come out with my book and I’ve been invited all over the world to speak and meet more interesting older people in different communities. It’s been incredible to hear their stories, travel, and be able to document it and share it with the world. It’s amazing when an older person emails me after seeing the blog and tells me how it has impacted their life and how they feel about themselves. Or even a younger person saying they feel less afraid of getting older.

How have younger people—and your friends—reacted to your interest in older people?

My friends totally get that this is the perfect thing for me to be doing; I’ve always spoken so much about my grandmother. I haven’t found much disapproval. When I go on dates people are a little surprised, but it is a quirky interest.

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Loren Wohl, Borscht Belt-Bred Music Photographer
Ari Brand, Actor, Musician, Summer Camp Alum
Haim, Three Jewish Sisters Who Rock
Alex Karpovsky, Actor, Writer, Director, and Producer

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Michelle Christina Larsen, New York-based fashion super stylist and journalist, takes Jewcy behind the scenes of the DeLeon photoshoot for their new album Casata (JDUB Records), which re-imagines ancient Sephardic melodies as indie rock.

For more information on Michelle, check out her website or her kick ass blog, Hey Mishka.

Casata is available on Amazon, iTunes, and in the Jewcy Store for the special price of $8.99!

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