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Bill Aron’s Lens on 50 Years of Jewish Life

JL;DR SUMMARY Over five decades, street photographer Bill Aron has documented diverse aspects of Jewish life globally, capturing moments ranging from joyous celebrations to intimate portrayals of Holocaust survivors. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish CultureHolocaust SurvivorsJewish CommunitiesJewish LifePhotographyExhibitionAmerican Jewish Historical SocietyVisual StorytellingBill AronHistoric Documentation

Places mentioned

New York City, New York, United States
"stories of Jewish life around the globe, capturing portraits of joy, triumph, spirit and serenity over 50 years. Among his well-known photographs are images of women carrying Torah scrolls on Simchat Torah in New York in 1976;"
Eudora, Kansas, United States
"a middle-aged couplethe last Jews of Eudora, Ark.in a poignant embrace in their liquor store in 1990;"
Jerusalem, Israel
"a vibrant market day in 2011 at the Damascus Gate of Jerusalems Old City;"
Brooklyn, New York, United States
"and a throng of Bobover Hasidim dancing with their rebbe on Purim in Borough Park, Brooklyn, in 1975."
Manhattan, New York, United States
"These images and more are part of a new exhibition, The World in Front of Me: A Bill Aron Retrospective, at the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS), located at the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan, through June 4."
Jackson, Mississippi, United States
"Joe Martin Erber (left) and Meyer Gelman posed for this photograph at Congregation Ahavath Rayim in Mississippi."
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
"A second exhibition, People & Places: The Photography of Bill Aron, runs from March 14 to April 26 at Bostons Pucker Gallery, which has represented Aron for most of his career."
Chicago, Illinois, United States
"The photographers work is in the collections of museums and galleries worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Israel Museum and more."
Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States
"For a project commissioned by the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, now in New Orleans, he photographed Henrietta Levine in 1991, smiling as she held a bowl of chopped liver in her Pine Bluff, Ark., home."
Beverly Hills, California, United States
"Today, he belongs to Temple Emanuel, a Reform synagogue in Beverly Hills."
Turkey
"He spent four years in the Peace Corps in Turkey, then earned a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago."
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
"He grew up in Philadelphia in a Conservative-affiliated Jewish home until his father died when he was 9; his family then joined a Reform congregation."
Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
"after a lucky nickel bet at the roulette wheel at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, N.J."
Vietnam
"has expanded her Explore Jewish India tours to include immersive new adventures in Vietnam and Cambodia."
Cambodia
"has expanded her Explore Jewish India tours to include immersive new adventures in Vietnam and Cambodia."

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