Passover - Seder
Thanksgiving
Ramadan - Iftaar
Kwanzaa - Karamu
and Easter
This began with a photograph of our family Seder table in 2001. My wife and daughter set the table as they always did, while I took a nap in the living room. When I woke up the dining room had been transformed. The good dishes and crystal were on the table and the lights made the silver sparkle. The smell reminded me of my grandmother’s house, and I looked forward to our guests arriving. I hoped I could capture all of that in a photograph.
Then I called a couple of friends I knew were also having a Seder and asked if I could photograph their tables. All three of those prints are in this show. Because a year was a long time to wait to do more, I photographed Thanksgiving tables, then Ramadan, Kwanzaa and Easter and recently a Ukrainian or Orthodox Christmas table. Different as they sound, I found that they are very similar. Now I've photographed about thirty Seder tables and hope eventually to have enough for a book.
These photographs are about shared values. The people are nearby, usually just out of sight, working on the final preparations. The rooms are different and the food is specific to the culture, but the celebrations have a lot in common. Food is often the pretext for the invitation, though that’s just the beginning. The rituals celebrate the past while the participants pray for peace and say blessings over the children in a variety of languages.
The first prints were intriguing because there was so much to see, and that was a good start. Then I had to find a way to make them feel like the warm embracing family gatherings I recall from my childhood long ago in Ohio. After a lot of experiments with the printing and toning I think I’ve done that. Now I hope you enjoy them.
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