arts & entertainment

A Jewish Lens

Religion-based
photography exhibit
at HMC explores
biblical prophets,
the re-emergence
of Jewish life in
Germany and the
36 Righteous Ones.

1

Max Mannheimer at Dachau is a photo of a man who survived

Dachau and spends his time talking to visitors there. It is
part of the "Darkness into Light" collection of photos taken in
Germany.

Suzanne Chessler

Contributing Writer

T

odd Weinstein has explored
Jewish history through photog-
raphy and soon will display his
impressions at the Holocaust Memorial
Center in Farmington Hills.
The retrospective of his religion-based
artistry over 30 years — an exhibit titled
"Light Is My Voice: Images, Legends and
Abstractions" — will be on view Sept.
21-Dec. 22.
The display, to be introduced by
Weinstein in an opening-day program,
combines three separate exhibits. Two
already appeared in this area in recognition
of the locale where he was raised.
"I've always taken my series of religious
images back to Michigan for premieres:'
says Weinstein, 63, in a phone conversa-
tion from New York. "My experiences there
influenced my career choices, and I feel
special ties through family members who
still live in the state.
"The newest exhibit, "The Prophets:' was
inspired by the 55 biblical prophets, but it
shows my interpretation: abstract images of
spiritual figures [imagined in patterns seen]
on stones, floors, walls and other objects:'
Some 30 pictures will be shown from
"Darkness into Light: The Re-emergence of
Jewish Culture in Germany" They are part
of a series developed over six years of pho-
tographing people living in Germany after
the Holocaust.
"The 36 Unknown:' displayed years ear-
lier at the HMC, are abstract color pictures
symbolic of the talmudic tale of righteous
souls sent to save the Earth.
"I love the stories of Jewish traditions,
customs and legends, and I see metaphors
in images:' Weinstein explains about his
Jewish subjects.
Examples from each section of the ret-
rospective give a sense of the differences in
approach.
In the premiering section on biblical
prophets, there is a picture of a wall where
Weinstein looked at the structural configu-
ration and perceived a likeness of Moses

Moses with Broken Tablets is part of Todd Weinstein's new

exhibit, "The Prophets," with abstract images discerned by
the artist on stones, floors, walls and other objects.

carrying broken tablets.
"I will be showing a picture of a man who
survived Dachau and spends his time talk-
ing to visitors there Weinstein says about
the "Darkness into Light" collection. "He
explains what it was like to survive:'
A picture of a hand covering a synagogue
is among the group in "The 36 Unknown"
display, related to the "hidden tzaddikim
(righteous persons) in the world who receive
the Shekhinah (Divine Presence) and upon
whom the survival of the world depends:'
Weinstein, whose artistry is a profes-
sional pursuit scheduled along with com-
mercial photography and teaching, traces
his interest in religious themes to attending
Congregation B'nai Moshe while growing
up in Oak Park, experiencing anti-Semitism
and getting to know Holocaust survivors.
He has traveled throughout Europe to
find subjects.
The photographer, married to potter
and photo stylist Isabelle Jud Weinstein,
currently is studying Kabbalah with Rabbi
Dovber Pinson at the Iyyun Center for
Jewish Spirituality in Brooklyn, N.Y. A fore-
most authority on Kabbalah, Pinson spoke
to a Detroit audience in 2012 at the Berman
Center in West Bloomfield, delivering a lec-
ture titled "A Glimpse into the Afterlife:'
Weinstein has been inspired to learn
more about the concepts of Kabbalah

The Healing Hand, a picture of a hand covering a synagogue, is
among the group in "The 36 Unknown" display.

because of the stories he heard from people
who have caught his artistic eye.
A variety of cameras have entered into
the works to be shown in Farmington Hills.
"I love the new technology for camera
work, and I use analog equipment as well
as a cell phone and higher-resolution digital
devices:' says Weinstein, who works with-
out a plan and instead reacts to what is in
front of him.
"Sometimes I use all the cameras for the
same shoot. It's not digital as opposed to
analog; it's about seeing and discovering:'
Weinstein says commercial photography
allowed him to enter worlds that he oth-
erwise might not have entered, and that
expanded a range helpful to his artistry.
Among the variety of commercial clients
that have sent him on assignments are Allied
Chemical, Johnson & Johnson and NBC.
Weinstein, whose work is in the collec-
tions of the Detroit Institute of Arts and
the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York along with many other public places,
discovered the possibilities of photography
at Oak Park High School.
After one year of attending the College
for Creative Studies, he moved on to New
York, where he worked as an apprentice
to photojournalist and pioneering color
photographer Ernst Haas (1921-1986),
ultimately honoring his late mentor by

helping to organize a traveling exhibition
of the man's work.
To arrange for the upcoming exhibit,
Weinstein reached out to Stephen
Goldman, executive director of the
Holocaust Memorial Center.
"We are looking forward to hosting this
exhibit for the next few months:' Goldman
says. "Like all the exhibits we display
in our museum, 'Light Is My Voice' not
only evokes a sense of history in our visi-
tors, but it also brings messages of social
responsibility and morality:'

❑

"Light Is My Voice: Images, Legends
and Abstractions" runs Sept. 21-Dec.
22 at the Holocaust Memorial
Center, 28123 Orchard Lake Road,
in Farmington Hills. A members-only
preview tour takes place at 2 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 21. An artist talk and
presentation is at 3 p.m. Sunday,
Sept. 21; it is open and free to the
public (with a museum admission
fee for nonmembers). Display hours
are 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. (last admission
at 3:30 p.m.) Sundays-Thursdays
and 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Fridays (last
admission at 1:30 p.m.). Nonmember
fees: $5-$8. (248) 553-2400; www.
holocaustcenter.org .

JN

September 18 • 2014

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