In collaboration with the Creative Arts Council, Brown Hillel upheld the University's longstanding tradition of sponsoring art with a social conscience last night with its unveiling of "Acts of Charity, Deeds of Kindness," a photographic essay by Manhattan resident Caryl Englander P'03.
The exhibit, which will be on display at Hillel's Glenn and Darcy Weiner Center until March 7, consists of several dozen photomontages, each documenting a different function of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, a New York-based humanitarian project dedicated to fulfilling the Jewish commandment of Tikkun Olam, or repairing the world.
The collection introduced viewers to a vital player in the fight against Jewish urban poverty that might otherwise go overlooked.
"This exhibit proves that art and Hillel should come together," said Creative Arts Council Director and Professor of Visual Art Richard Fishman during his preliminary remarks, "and we believe in bringing excellent art that tells a story."
The story told in Englander's compelling exposé centers around the estimated 226,000 Jews in the United States who live at or below the federal poverty level - one out of every five in New York alone. Working to ameliorate this urban predicament, the Met Council endeavors to house the recent homeless and supply food to those in need.
Met Council Executive Director William Rapfogel, who has spent 13 years working on behalf of the program after a stint with the Pro-Israel Advocacy campaign in Washington, derived more immediate satisfaction aiding the destitute in his hometown. "In New York, things are tangible," he said, pointing to a nearby photograph of a woman delivering groceries to a new homeowner. "You can see and feel the impact you're having on these people. I didn't get any of that when I worked for the Advocacy."
Each year, Rapfogel oversees the distribution of 1,100 housing units to the elderly, mentally ill and homeless, and rounds out his time fighting proposed budget cuts at Brooklyn's Borough Hall for those on the brink of despair.
It was Meryl Tisch, a chairwoman on the Met Council board, who proposed that they bring Englander in to immortalize the organization's 270 employees, 2,500 home intendants, and countless clients.
The Florida-born photographer had been serving the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan for years, both as a portrait artist and a teacher of digital photography. Having completed her B.A. and taken time off to raise her children, one of whom graduated from Brown two years ago, Englander rediscovered her passion for taking pictures. She now has a Master's of Photography from a dual program at NYU and the International Center of Photography, where she serves as a board member.
"I see extraordinary people who help one another," she said of the exhibit, adding that she felt instantly intrigued by the assignment and will continue to work in conjunction with the Met Council as long as she can.
The digital photographs on display show a colorful cast of characters including trauma counselors, repairmen and Emergency Food Program coordinators. But central to the series' large-scale portraits are shots of the grateful owners of new homes and resources.
The photographs are arranged in little scenes across the wall of Hillel's ground floor and provide a glimpse into the daily affairs of several destitute New Yorkers as they receive treatment. "Zakhar Babyov," for instance, presents an elderly Russian immigrant left to fend for himself after the death of his wife. Unable to afford rent, Babyov was picked up by the Met Council a few years ago. He currently resides in Canasie, Brooklyn, where he - according to Englander's photographic account - lives happily with his pet fish and eat-in kitchen.
In another, perhaps more striking vignette, a long line of down-and-out immigrants wait in line for the organization's weekly allocation of food. As Englander explained, New York's Food Bank donates meal staples to help the poverty-stricken observe the Jewish Sabbath. "For many of these people," she said, "it's the only contact they have with the outside world all week."
Not all the scenes have happy endings, and while each story told includes a form of charity, some of the results are clearly bittersweet. The two miniatures "Ashamed" and "Anonymity" demonstrate that while all applicants receive the treatment they deserve, not all wish to have the proceedings recorded. The images of an abuse victim in counseling and a man shamed by his inability to pay for his son's cancer treatment both convey the more unspeakable aspects of abject poverty, and the subjects requested that they not be identified. To signify the self-imposed taboo of their positions, Englander sensitively reveals no more than the backs of her subjects' heads.
Creating an intimate rapport with her subjects is a crucial component of the photographer's methodology. "Look at Boris," she exclaimed, gesturing at a snapshot of what appeared to be a baby-faced octogenarian. "107-years-old, and isn't he beautiful? No wrinkles!"
The exhibit will run through March 7 at Brown Hillel's Glenn and Darcy Weiner Center.
