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P
ictures representing New York
City life — including scenes
of lone workmen atop a high-
rise building, children dancing along a
sidewalk and people of all ages at the
beach — are among 150 images in a newly
awarded book by Deborah Dash Moore, a
University of Michigan history professor,
Frankel Center for Judaic Studies leader
and Posen Library of Jewish Culture and
Civilization editor.
Walkers in the City: Jewish Street
Photographers of Midcentury New York is
an honoree in the 73rd National Jewish
Book Awards by the Jewish Book Council.
The book, with pictures taken between the
1930s and 1960s by Jewish photographers,
will be among books honored in a New
York program March 26.
“Most of the photographers were the
children of immigrants,” said Dash Moore,
whose many earlier awards have included
a 2005 Best Book of the Year by The
Washington Post for GI Jews: How World
War II Changed a Generation. “They
grew up in New York City and picked up
cameras. Some of them were still in high
school and others a little later.
“They met each other in an
organization called the New York Photo
League. This was a mixture of a school
with darkroom facilities. It sponsored
lectures. It had social events. It had an
element of being a club. Some of the
people who attended felt it was a second
home for them. They did not have an easy
childhood.”
With each picture, as the photographer
is identified, the historical context is
presented. Some photographers became
very famous, and there are bios at the end
of the photographic content. Morris Engel,
for example, took the cover picture as a
teenager developing a well-known career.
Because the book takes place way
before the use of cell phones or even
private home phones, pictures show
communications taking place in outside
booths. The images capture people waiting
for transportation or to see each other.
The black-and-white representations have
a group related to selling — newspapers,
foods and other goods — outdoors.
“I put in one or two pictures of
big buildings to explain what these
photographers were not taking pictures
of,” Dash Moore said. “They are taking
pictures of the people and how the people
lived, especially working-class people.
“There’s a chapter on children’s play
and going out. People lived in very small
apartments for sleeping and eating and
not too much else. If you were a kid, you
came home from school and went outside.
The streets were your playrooms, and
there are pictures of street games and what
kids did.
“This book is about typical New York
City activities. It starts with looking
U-M professor earns National Jewish Book award
for her book on Jewish street photographers.
ARTS&LIFE
BOOKS
‘Walkers in the City’
SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
“Shoeshine
Conversation”
73rd National Jewish
Book Awards.
JAY JAFFEE
JEWISH BOOK COUNCIL