Zion Ozeri, Photographs
South American Jewish Life, 2002-3

עברית

October 8, 2004 – May 31, 2005

Protestors in Buenos Aires, Gauchos and farmers in Moises Ville, favela volunteers in Sao Paolo and in Rio de Janeiro, surfers on Ipanema Beach – these are but a few of the South American Jewish figures and sights captured in Zion Ozeri’s camera.

Weekly Jewish protest outside the Supreme Court. Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 2002 Photograph: Zion Ozeri

Sabbath eve dance in the Jewish old age home Montevideo, Uruguay, August 2002 Photograph: Zion Ozeri

The exhibition Zion Ozeri, Photographs - South American Jewish Life, 2002-3, opening October 8, 2004, features a selection of 56 silver prints of individual and group portraits, taken by Ozeri during four recent journeys to Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. His exhibition at Beth Hatefutsoth, does not attempt to present a full picture of contemporary South American Jewry, rather, it engages the viewer in small cameos of South American life as described to the artist by the sitters, often taken against their local background. Being the son of immigrants, and an immigrant himself, Ozeri’s portraits reveal his sensitivity to his subjects’ complex identities. Beyond the personal aspect, some of the photographs also reflect the crisis endured in recent years, especially by the biggest of these communities, that of Argentina.

Ozeri’s journeys to Jewish communities around the globe started in Israel, where he had grown up as the son of Yemenite immigrants. Ozeri recalls one of his home visits back in the early 1980s--after having studied photography and started establishing himself as a press photographer in NYC--when it struck him that he should, first and foremost, record his own, namely the Yemenite-Israeli community, and especially its older generation. This first photographic project, published in a book in 1985 (Schocken Books, NYC), was later followed by a journey to Yemen itself, in the early 1990s. Ever since then, Ozeri has been documenting contemporary Jewry worldwide, from Central Assia to South America.

Rabbi Nilton Bonder with his surfboard Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, January 2003 Photograph: Zion Ozeri

Tatiana Welikson fitting her carnival costume Mangueira Samba School, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, January 2003 Photograph: Zion Ozeri

Zion Ozeri’s work was published, among others, in The New York Times and Newsweek. It was exhibited in one-man shows at the Skirball Cultural Center, LA, and Spertus Museum, Chicago. His photographs are part of the permanent exhibit in the Museum of Jewish Heritage, NYC. To review his work, please visit www.zionozeri.com

The exhibition was produced by the Spertus Museum, Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, Chicago, where it was first exhibited in 2003. The exhibition is displayed at Beth Hatefutsoth with the generous support of zimand.com, in memory of Anda.

Exhibition curator at Beth Hatefutsoth: Sarah Harel-Hoshen

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