810 Holocaust Photography Project Website Launches

[Eli Rubel]

I posted in the "On Photography" section, but I think this may be the more appropriate place to post this.

I have been working on this project for about six months now....after dealing primarily with the business end of things, I finally get to begin shooting again....

www.discoveringhopeproject.com

Cheers,

Eli

[PenGun]

Quit a few people don't see flash. There are still no 64 bit plugins for Linux and some, like myself, don't care for it.

[Eli Rubel]

ah. sorry about that. I dont particularly like "flashy" websites, but this stays very simple and clean.

[Eric Rose]

Actually I like Flash and have both the bandwidth and OS to enjoy it with. Time to get with the 21 century PenGun LOL.

Lovely project, well done. I agree these things need to be recorded and preserved for future generations.

[walter23]

My reaction here surprised me almost enough to make it worthy of discussion.

I've seen so many editorialists and political pundits bandy the holocaust around lately that the idea has almost lost its impact. In fact my first response was "kicking a dead horse" when I saw this project. Granted I have no first hand experience with the horror of it (e.g. a family member survivor, etc), but maybe that's why this is so interesting. For most of my life it has stood alone as a symbol of one of the worst things that could ever happen to people - a powerful symbol of the sorts of absolutely evil things that people can do to one another. And because it's been so horribly overused lately in partisan politics it's almost lost its impact, to the point that I want to roll my eyes and groan when someone creates yet another memorial to it. I guess that's kind of horrible when you think about it. The victims of it have no part in the current worldwide mess, nor the way that we've almost become dulled to it by constantly hearing it pulled up in editorials, etc - they were simply victims of a horrible regime.

I like your portraits. Simple nice portraits of real people. Kind of returns the holocaust to a place of sadness and personal tragedy, and out of the political arena and splashiness of major media & partisanship. Nice.

[PenGun]

Actually I like Flash and have both the bandwidth and OS to enjoy it with. Time to get with the 21 century PenGun LOL.

Lovely project, well done. I agree these things need to be recorded and preserved for future generations.

I have several OSs and many browsers, some of which run a flash plugin, but the one I use sees no ads and no flash. I like it that way.

My point was that it does limit your audience. That's all.

[Eli Rubel]

Kind of returns the holocaust to a place of sadness and personal tragedy, and out of the political arena and splashiness of major media & partisanship. Nice.

The goal of my project, I feel, is much different than to simply bring up the topic. From more of a historical standpoint...There is no existing formal photographic archive of survivors post liberation. There have been several short (none exceeding 100 portraits) editorial style photographs taken, but nothing with the intent or scope of my project. Artistic reasons aside, I am photographing these people not to bring media attention to the subject, because as you correctly have pointed out- there is plenty of that lately. But rather to provide a historical record, a means for education in the future when the survivors are no longer here to tell their stories.

I hope this clarifies things a bit for you.

-Eli

[Merg Ross]

Eli, you may be interested in the life and photographic work of my friend, and photographer, Raphael Shevelev. Your project brought him to mind. We met in 1991, after an urban wildfire destroyed 3,000 homes in our neighborhood, including his (and that of Peter Stackpole, who lived three blocks from me). It was through Raphael's efforts to portray the disaster, in a photographic exhibition, that initiated our friendship.

I will attempt to link you to his site.

http://www.raphaelshevelev.com/

[cdholden]

Eli,
Kudos on your work, both from an artistic sense as well as documentation. If you should ever find yourself in south Florida, make it a point to visit the Holocaust memorial in Miami Beach. Walking the site is the only way to truly experience it. The bronze sculpture in the middle of the lily pond is a powerful one and online photos don't do it justice.
http://fcit.usf.edu/Holocaust/GALL34R/MIAMI22.HTM
http://www.holocaustmmb.org/

Chris

[Donald Miller]

Eli, I like your work as you have presented it here. Thanks for making me aware of it.

Best regards,
Donald Miller