Photographs by Martin Schoeller.
Opening September 18, 2022
In September 2022, the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust opened its inaugural exhibition in the Rita Lowenstein Gallery, Survivors: Faces of Life After the Holocaust. Photographs by Martin Schoeller.
This exhibition, originated by Martin Schoeller and Yad Vashem, features 75 photographs created to mark the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz. Schoeller photographed these Holocaust survivors and created a short film documenting the process. The exhibition includes the entire body of work including the film, bios, and quotes from the sitters.
Martin Schoeller (b. 1968, Germany) is one of the world’s most prominent contemporary portrait photographers. His signature style of extreme close-up portraiture has been utilized across his career, whether his subject is a celebrity or a Holocaust survivor, encouraging the viewer to draw comparisons “between his subjects, challenging a viewer’s existing notions of celebrity, value, and honesty.” Here, a community takes shape from individual stories.
The messages are essential and galvanizing towards love and action. Sara Leicht z”l (1929 – 2021) told Schoeller, “The most important thing we can do is to love. To love more and to love everyone. To be kinder, more humble and more generous, and to be better people. To love our fellow human beings, whoever they are.” Eva Lavi (b. 1937) shared her mandate: “We have much work to do in order to convince the world that the worst thing is baseless hatred. The world should stay away from hatred, from antisemitism and Holocaust denial, and from all forms of evil.”