The introduction of photography to the general public in 1839 revolutionized the depiction of family. People immediately flocked to professional studios to record important events and to immortalize themselves and their relations in photographic portraits. Previously restricted to painting, the tradition of family portraiture became accessible to new consumers through the less expensive medium of photography.
The subsequent invention of the hand-held camera in 1888 increased the availability of this new technology. The widespread use of photography, however, did not lessen the appeal of the family as a subject for artists using the new medium. With the familiar snapshot in mind, photographers continued to explore the issues that defined family life throughout the twentieth century.
This exhibition assembles images of the Jewish family from the second half of the nineteenth century to the present. Its chronological breadth reveals a significant theme: time. The passage of time is reflected in pictures of multiple generations, changing culture and relationships, and acts of remembrance. An early daguerreotype captures three generations of a single family. Richard Avedon creates a loving series dedicated to his dying father. Arnold Eagle attempts to preserve Jewish domestic rituals from assimilation in 1930s New York, while Lauren Greenfield documents a contemporary version of the Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebration in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. Albert Winn and Lorie Novak address their past, complicated family relationships, and identity by incorporating snapshots into their work. Through ritual, remembrance, and relationships, the photographs presented here reflect the tension between change and permanence that characterizes both family life and photography.