Kavana and A Permanent Home in the Mouth of the Sun by Hannah Altman

Issue 150

Ethnic, cultural and religious Judaism has outlived countless temporary homes in the world over thousands of years. Jewish people have endured a most certain cycle of assimilation, advancement, persecution, eradication, repeat. The landscape shifts around time-based rituals that prevail and perpetuate a sense of collective Jewish identity. I make work informed by impermanent terrain, photographing Jewish action within this ephemeral landscape so that rituals and the stories they tell become rooted in an image. They are home in the breath between a song and a shutter closing down. They are home, finally, not in place, but in time.

Hannah Altman foregrounds her Jewish-American identity in these photographs through her use of objects, ritual and memory. Her portraits and still lives contain specific gestures and histories that relate to her culture: candles for Shabbat, a mezuzah, water and vessels for cleansing rituals; Altman visualizes collective memory. These photographs aspire to a sense of shared empathy and spirituality, bridging across the past, present and future, while also celebrating individual presence and reflection.

Hannah Altman (she/her) lives and works in Richmond, VA.
www.hannahaltmanphoto.com | @hannah.altman

Images © Hannah Altman