NEW YORK JEWISH LIFE.

New York Jewish Life is the subject of a photographic essay in its early stages. I have in mind to construct a photographic essay like that of Roman Vishniac who in the 1930s portrayed Warsaw Jewish life before its destruction by the Nazis. My earliest memories are images of the tatooed concentration-camp-numbers on the arms of survivors who came to New York after the war. In photographs, I celebrate the persistence and liveliness of New York Jewish life. I photograph in the Binghamton region where I live, Brooklyn and Manhattan and look at Jewish places of worship, religious artifacts, the costumes, social interaction, and people going about their daily work.

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Nancy Basmann Photography

4816 Country Club Rd
with handicap ramp,

Vestal, NY 13850

Phone: (607) 731-1626
Email: nancy@nancybasmann.com

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The story of the survival of the Jewish people is not just about one group of people: We may hope that the Yazidis, the Coptics of Egypt, the Chaldeans of Iraq, and other beleaguered religious groups who escape the genocides in the Middle East and Asia in their new homes in the West are able to thrive.

This is my photograph of my synagogue. The picture, printed in metal 30″ x 10″, shows on a wall of the synagogue.

Beth David Synagogue, Riverside Drive, Binghamton NY

A slide show of pictures of New York Jewish life follows:

: Hanukah at the Kilmer Mansion, Temple Concord, Binghamton NY

: Hanukah at the Kilmer Mansion of Temple Concord, Binghamton, NY

: Antique Menorah, Courtesy of Temple Concord, Binghamton NY. I photographed the menorah at Temple Concord. The image appeared on a card that the Temple used to raise about $1000.

: Doll-statue, Courtesy Temple Concord. The dolls with the table adorned with cloth and adornments are on a stand about a foot long and several inches wide. I heard that the figures are “zayde dolls” from the 1930s. Zayde in Yisddish means “grandfather.” I photographed the little statue in my studio with the red background. The image I designed for a card for Temple Concord to use as a fund-raiser, but in the end the Temple decided against the project because the local printer was too expensive.