The
Jewish Journey:
Frédéric Brenner's Photographic Odyssey 
Join
us for a private tour of the exhibition. We will discuss Brenner's
unique portrayal
of diverse Jewish communities throughout the world,
paying special attention
to his "Israel Project: Exile at Home," a
compelling
series of photographs showing the same individuals both before
and after they
emigrated to Israel. Wednesday,
January 19, 2005 Special
tour at 7:30 pm followed by a wine & cheese reception
The
Contemporary Jewish Museum
121 Steuart Street (between Mission and Howard
streets), San Francisco
$5.
RSVP: tzavta@sfjcf.org / 415.512.6424 CLICK
IMAGES TO ENLARGE
 In
its only West Coast venue, the exhibition offers an incredibly rich and diverse
photographic record of Jewish life in the Diaspora. The concept of Diaspora is
a universal issue for cultures throughout the world struggling to maintain their
traditions and sense of community as geographic dispersal persists. Contemporary
photographer Frédéric Brenner offers the Diaspora experience of
one the oldest peoples in history in an exhibition that challenges the often stereotypical
portrayal of Jews while presenting the most extensive record of Jewish life ever
created by a single individual.
From
Rome to New York, India to Yemen, Buenos Aires to Bukhara, since 1978, Brenner
has photographed individuals in over forty countries on five continents. The project
began as an ethnographic study of cultural preservation and one people's survival
in exile. It became a far-reaching exploration of identity and diversity in the
Jewish world. In Brenner's words, "The more Jews I met, the less I understood
what a Jew looked like." Amongst Brenner's photographs are images of tattooed
Hell's Angels in Florida, "Marrano" Jews celebrating Passover in secret
in Portugal, steel mill workers in the U.S.S.R., an Iraqi merchant in his Calcutta
mansion, barbers cutting the hair of their Muslim clients in Tajikistan, and vendors
selling papal souvenirs in Rome.  Born
in Paris in 1959 and trained in social anthropology, Brenner created his first
photograph for the project at age 19. The thousands of photographs he has since
taken record the evolution of Jewish civilization, showing communities in flux
and the myriad reinventions of the Jewish people in far-flung corners of the world.
The project begs for parallels in other communities with similar histories of
global dispersion and the resulting impact on cultural identity and memory.
The
Jewish Journey: Frédéric Brenner's Photographic Odyssey is organized
by the Brooklyn Museum and made possible by the Righteous Persons Foundation and
other generous friends of the Brooklyn Museum.
The
San Francisco presentation is made possible through the generous support of the
Helen Diller Family Foundation and the Albert and Janet Schultz Supporting Foundation,
administered by the Jewish Community Endowment Fund; with additional support from
the Koret Foundation.
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