Camera Chutzpah

I have just been given a sneak preview of photographer Frederic Aranda’s new photography exhibition, Kosherface, and was blown away. Boasting seven years of photographs of Orthodox Jewish Rabbis, this is a unique, unseen body of work on a private community. Approaching the subject from inside, but as a fashion photographer, he has created something really quite unique.

Ever since he was shortlisted by the Times as the Young Photographer of the Year 2005, Frederic Aranda has been one of the world’s most exciting fashion and portrait photographers. A regular contributor to British and international editions of many fashion magazines. He has worked with prominent figures in politics, entertainment and fashion. And that’s not to mention his truly iconic photograph of HRH Prince Philip.

In his final year at Oxford University, Aranda rented a room in the household of the Lubavitch rabbi in Oxford. For 12 months, this room became a photographic studio, with rabbis and their families being photographed there on a daily basis. In the seven years since, Aranda has spent time amongst the Lubavitch community in Brooklyn and traveled to places as diverse as Tokyo, Milan, Paris and Berlin to explore the Lubavitch world.

This arresting collection of work focuses on the distinctive Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis and their families. Rabbis are captured in modern aesthetic terms, reflecting their ability to embrace the 21st century. Aranda invites viewers to discover a thoroughly updated, colorful vision of a world willing to really open its doors for the very first time.

Click Here to view the Gallery!