German Town Nixes Kristallnacht Ceremony

The German town of Görlitz is refusing to allow its Jewish community to hold its own ceremony marking Kristallnacht.

After Kristallnacht. Instead, the only ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom will be held by the local Protestant church, which has traditionally focused on all victims of the Third Reich.

The small Jewish community had planned to bring a Torah scroll from Dresden into a newly renovated synagogue, which dates from 1909. It is the only synagogue to have survived Kristallnacht in the state of Saxony.

But the city insists that ceremonies must be secular and inclusive. The former synagogue was deconsecrated after the 1938 pogrom. Following its six-year renovation, the structure now has room for 230 guests.

"The city has canceled the entire event planned by the Jewish community and the Society for the Promotion of the Synagogue," which was to include several performances and speeches,  Alex Jacobowitz, cantor and chairman of the town's tiny Jewish community, told JTA.

He insisted that the Jewish community's program would be inclusive.

The Society for the Promotion of the Synagogue is a secular group authorized to hold ecumenical events in the building. It cooperates with the Jewish community. Now, only the ceremony run by the local Protestant church is still scheduled to take place in the building.

The city bought the synagogue from the remnant Dresden Jewish community in 1963, and then formally purchased it again from the Claims Conference after German unification, according to Jacobowitz, a musician who came from New York to Germany in 1991.

The approximately 30-member Jewish community has held services in a small sanctuary within the building for about a year, Jacobowitz said.

Story from JTA - http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/110844.html

Kristallnacht Remnants Unearthed Near Berlin

A huge dumping ground for the destroyed remains of Jewish property plundered during Kristallnacht has been found north of Berlin by an investigative journalist.

The destruction from Kristallnacht. The site, which is the size of four football pitches, in Brandenburg, contains an extensive array of personal and ceremonial items looted during orchestrated nationwide riots against Jewish property and places of worship on the night of November 9 1938. It is believed the goods were brought by rail to the outskirts of the village and dumped on designated land.

Yaron Svoray, the Israeli journalist who made the discovery, said it was a happy coincidence that he had stumbled across the artifacts so close to the 70th anniversary of the pogrom, also known as the Night of Broken Glass. (The Full Article Here - from The Guardian)
Photo: Jewish shops laid waste on Kristallnacht in 1938. Battmann/Corbis

I'm headed to Berlin Friday (24th Oct), I would really like to check this out. I doubt I could get anywhere near it though. I'm not even sure they've released the exact location yet. Here's a video of Yaron talking about what he found.

Fallen Leaves

Today, I tried to take advantage of the beautiful weather here in Germany. It's late October and it's sunny and 16C (55F). Perfect weather for making plates.

I pulled out a new piece of black plastic (acrylic) and went to work. I mounted my Hermagis lens and stopped it down to a number six (6) Waterhouse stop. I'm going to make an educated guess here and say that would be about an f/30. Why? It's a 15" lens and the stop #6 is about .5"  - do the math.

Anyway, I decided I wanted to work on some kind of still life/landscape image. I chose to use the stopped down lens to show infinite (or close to it) depth and detail.

I chose to photograph our cherry tree. Cherry trees symbolize death, rebirth and new awakenings (among many other things including food and ornamental uses). Our cherry tree only produces fruit every other year. This year it didn't and I missed those delicious cherries (Kirschen).

Ever since I visited the Jewish Museum in Berlin, fallen leaves remind me of the faces in the piece called, "Fallen Leaves" - I did a 20 second video while I was walking on the "faces" - it was, loud and disconcerting.

 

I wanted to explore this idea of "fallen leaves" and yet show something resilient and strong (the tree trunk). So I setup this shot.

First, I took a jug of water and I poured it on the tree trunk. I knew it would help define the "texture/scars" on the trunk and make it dark. Water, or wet things, has/have an interesting relationship with Collodion. I really like the effect of something wet or something steel with Collodion (I think it's the reflection or sheen).

Next, I made a test exposure. It was way underexposed at 8 seconds. The next exposure, I went 16 seconds, still under and finally, after three plates, made this at 40 seconds.

"Fallen Leaves" - Cherry Tree, Viernheim, Germany

It's an 8x10 "Acrylotype" (made on a piece of black plastic). I'm happy with it. I love the light. It was early enough that this portion of my yard was still in the shade. I love how the leaves are the things that pickup, and reflect, the new morning light... and the trunk, standing tall and strong. It's surrounded with darkness and "things" coming out, or even reaching out, of that darkness. It's symbolic for me.

Jesus Was A Jew

My goal in 2009 is to really concentrate on getting my project completed. By the winter of 2009, I want to be editing images for a book. That's my goal. In order to do that, I'm going to cut back on workshops (maybe do two next year) and get my technical writing and DVD material completed this year (in the next couple of months).

It was a good day today. Sunday and Germany equals no one bothering you about "what you're doing". Any other day, or any other time, I would have never been able make this image.

I find this image both ironic and symbolic. Ironic in the sense that Jesus was a Jew. Symbolic in the sense that Jesus was a Jew (and that He represents salvation and love). I find it kind of kitschy too - that's why I made it on a piece of plastic (black acrylic, I call it an "Acrylotype"). I made the image with an old Derogy lens. It's not big enough to cover the plate (8"x10") edge to edge, so it gives it that vignette. Vignettes make me feel like I'm looking through a keyhole or seeing something I'm not supposed to be seeing. I like the effect it gives of saying (visually), "LOOK HERE".  Images of Jesus on the cross always remind me of Serrano's work too. He made an image called, "Piss Christ" that everyone took out of context and misunderstood. I'll never forget it.

You'll see these kinds of statues in a lot of the Catholic states/counties in Germany. You'll also see a lot of crosses. And every village has a Catholic church in its center with its steeple stretching toward heaven.

Jesus Was A Jew

Art Is The Enemy Of The Routine

"Adoph Hitler Strasse" - Viernheim, Germany In my (ongoing and lifelong) pursuit of defining the meaning and  purpose of art, I've come across a lot of insightful and powerful quotes. Simon Schama said something so simple and brilliant that I felt compelled to share it with you here. He said, ""Art is the enemy of the routine, the mechanical and the hum drum. It stops us in our tracks with a high voltage jolt of disturbance; it reminds us of what humanity can do beyond the daily grind. It takes us places we had never dreamed of going; it makes us look again at what we had taken for granted."

Of course, this isn't definitive (in defining art), but for me, it defines an aspect of what good art can do and some of the purpose involved in making art.

There is something to be said for being "present" in your daily life. Present to the good and to the not so good. I believe artists are highly perceptive and extremely "present" in their daily lives (sometimes too present as they go mad or sink into depression). The subtle, unnoticed details are what tell the story. Artists are very good at picking up on those and sharing their opinions or views about them. If you think about all of the mundane and superficial information we are subjected to on a daily basis, few things are really valuable. Artists have an important voice in the world, I wish more people listened.

Kristallnacht Lecture: Mannheim High School

On Monday, April 28, I was invited (by Summer's teacher) to be a guest speaker in two honor history classes. Summer had told her about my project. I was happy to oblige. If you know me, you know that I rarely turn down an opportunity to have people listen to what I say and look at what I make. Needless to say, I accepted.

The classes, one with about 10 students and the other with about 18, just started reading Elie Wiesel’s, “Night”.  This is a powerful and disturbing account of the Wiesel family’s torture and suffering in the concentration camps of Germany and Poland. Although my project is directly related to the Holocaust, it’s (Kristallnacht) more obscure and less known.

I started by asking definition of words like “anti-Semitism” and “pogrom”. I talked about what I believe caused the world to turn against the Jews and to allow the near annihilation of them. For me, it was important to stress that living in Germany and understanding this history changed how I viewed the world. How living here made an abstract idea, a real life “concrete” event for me.

I quoted Martin Luther King, Jr., "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." I talked about "indifference" and silence - or turning your head when bad things are happening to other people. I referenced this poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller too.

------------------
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
-------------------

I showed a 6 minute presentation I put together of my work so far and then took questions. It was very rewarding and I look forward to doing it again.

Kristallnacht: The Beginning

I really love this image (it will probably end up on the front of my new web site) - this was the first plate of the day. It's an 8" x 10" black glass Ambrotype shot with a small Jamin-Darlot (c.1864) lens - I like the "keyhole" effect this lens gives the image.

We visited Mainz, Germany today. It's about 45 minutes to the north of us. I made three wet plate collodion images there of the former synagogue. It was perfect weather and a perfect day for it.

The Germans were very friendly in Mainz. We had a paper ready to handout to them explaining what I was doing. There were a few very positive and encouraging responses; I was surprised. There were a few that stayed and watched as I went through the entire process and saw the final plate coming up in the fix. Really great stuff!

I am very excited about this project now; the results were fantastic today and I look forward to going out again in a few days to make more images. Jean and Summer were outstanding! I love you both! Thank you for all of your help - I couldn't do this crazy thing without you!

The memorial plaque - this plate is exquisite in real life. The details are amazing - especially the stones
and the relief of the old synagogue. This is an 8" x 10" Ambrotype on black glass.

 
Quinn exposes a plate as Summer rolls video.

Here's the setup: Toyota 4Runner and a portable darkroom!

When The Concept Is Bigger Than The Craft

It seems that I've been waiting forever for my portable dark box to arrive (here in Germany). It was shipped on February 5, 2008 from Rochester, New York. You wouldn't think it would take a month, but then again one of the biggest and most annoying things about living here is the APO system and the expense of commercial post (like FedEx and DHL). It's outrageous on both ends.

Quinn's darkbox

In hindsight, it's actually been a very good thing. I've been able to gather my thoughts about my approach to working through my Kristallnacht project. At first, I thought I would approach it a stand alone, no interference, straight forward (almost documentary) project.  I simply wanted to photograph the locations I have pre-selected and making 8x10 Black Glass Ambrotypes (wet plate collodion images). That’s not going to happen and, moreover, I don’t want it to happen. You see, I realize that the concept of this project is bigger than the craft of this project. It other words, the idea is much stronger than the images I would or could make of former synagogue sites. It’s a strange problem to have. It’s usually the other way around for an artist; it’s all craft and no concept. Hit a random “fine art photo” site and you’ll see what I mean.

The Mainz Synagogue

Here's my solution: I'm goign to include my portraiture work, landscape work and object work all under the umbrella of the Kristallnacht project. I’ve decided that even though these objects, people or landscape scenes, weren’t (necessarily) here, they all share a common link to either the victims or the perpetrators both in idea and the physical world. And, after all, my message is about the questions surrounding Kristallnacht and ultimately, the Holocaust.

Kristallnacht 2008

This November 9th (and 10th) is the 70th Anniversary of Kristallnacht, or "The Night of Broken Glass." Almost 2000 synagogues were desecrated or destroyed. I'm hoping to have a body of work (wet plate collodion images - photographs on glass plates) to exhibit in Germany on one, or both, of these nights.

I'm well on my way to getting my project started (the actual image making part). For the last several months, I've been doing a lot of research. My point of view and opinion about this event has changed a lot. It's one thing to understand an event like this in the abstract, quite another to walk this land, see these places and, in a lot of ways, feel the misery and hurt of the people murdered here - it changes you.

Viernheim Memorial
This is the Viernheim, Germany memorial. I live in this village. This memorial is a five minute walk from my house. To me, this looks like a tombstone. The wet plate collodion process has also created a visual that looks like fire below it. The background is "spinning" because of the old lens I'm using - it's pregnant with metaphor.

The work that I am creating now will be more "radical" and more conceptual than this. Not that there is anything wrong with "documents," I just want to say more visually. Let's see if I can make it happen.

November 9th & 10th 1938

I find it disturbing that every year November 9th (& 10th) comes and goes as uneventful as any other day. Germans (and Germany) do nothing, or very little, to commomorate or memorialize Kristallnacht (1938), which was the beginning of the Holocaust. However, the Neo-Nazis seem to do something every year on this date.
Last year in Berlin, they destoyed a Kristallnacht memorial and this year (a couple of days ago) they took a bus to Prague and wanted to march in the old Jewish Quarter there. We were there (in Prague) last year and the video footage I saw about this event was haunting. There's something strange about seeing the same places you have been full of Neo-Nazis and police. The Czech people came out in big numbers and said, "No way in hell are the Nazis going to march in the Jewish Quarter here". I wonder why the same thing didn't happen in Germany 70 years ago? This is a big quesiton for me. I'm beginning to explore it through my artwork... stay tuned.


Jewish Synagogue Burns During Kristallnacht - Almost immediately upon assuming the Chancellorship of Germany, Hitler began promulgating legal actions against Germany's Jews. In 1933, he proclaimed a one-day boycott against Jewish shops, a law was passed against kosher butchering and Jewish children began experiencing restrictions in public schools. By 1935, the Nuremberg Laws deprived Jews of German citizenship. By 1936, Jews were prohibited from participation in parliamentary elections and signs reading "Jews Not Welcome" appeared in many German cities. (Incidentally, these signs were taken down in the late summer in preparation for the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin).