o
Ian
j
enter Partrich rescues
historic Israeli
photographs.
Prime Minister and Defense Minister
David Ben-Gurion peifirming
a. headstand, Sharon Hotel Beach,
Herzliya, :Sept. 20, 1957
SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News
Ito
eal estate developer Spencer Partrich has
turned photos into an artistic interest and
active hobby. While Partrich finds pleasure in
collecting the works of noted 20th-century photogra-
phers, he also enjoys taking pictures of his family and
documenting important times in their lives.
Partrich, whose photo art collection includes images
by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Edward Weston, consid-
ers a snapshot he took in Israel among his personal
favorites. A seaside scene of two boys jumping off a
wall into the water holds symbolic value.
"I captured the boys in midair, and to me, that rep-
resents the movement and excitement of Israel," says
Partrich, who has advanced from a 35-millimeter
Nikon to a digital Sony. "I've always been enamored of
still pictures, the freezing of moments in time."
Another seaside image taken by the late news pho-
tographer Paul Goldman (1900-1986) has joined the
Partrich collection and is being shared with the public.
It shows former Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-
Gurion standing on his head at Herzliya Beach in
1957.
The Ben-Gurion photo is among 100 historic scenes
from Israel on view Feb. 3-March 20 at the Janice
Charach Espstein Gallery in West Bloomfield.
These pictures were found in the apartment of
Goldman's widow, Dina, and daughter, Medina
Goldman Ortsman, and came to Partrich's attention
through a friend. As a collector, Partrich saw their artis-
tic value and decided to fund their restoration and pro-
mote exhibits of them.
The pictures, brought together as "The Forgotten
Photographs: The Work of Paul Goldman from 1943-
1961, from the Collection of Spencer M. Partrich,"
were first on display at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel
Aviv. They comprise only a small segment of 40,000
negatives stored in the Goldman family kitchen and
now being restored at Partrich's direction.
"These pictures show the people of Israel between
1943 and 1961, and they are all very exciting to see,"
says Partrich, co-founder and partner of Lautrec Ltd. in
Farmington Hills. "This is history and art mixed
together, and I feel the collection is significant to my
life as a Jew. Seeing the faces of the people becomes
very moving, and the expressions stand out.
"Paul Goldman did not have a private agenda when
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MOMENTS IN TIME on page 28
2005
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