North Hollywood Orthodox Jews

I went on an excursion to see what the North Hollywood Orthodox Jewish community was all about. As someone who doesn't have much religious frame-of-reference, it was a good experience. Here's a mini-cross-section of some of the personalities I met along my journey. 

Cambridge Farms, a kosher market serving the local community.

Shimon, Cambridge Farms' masgiach. He identifies as an Orthodox Jew and has lived in LA for 12 years since his immigration from Israel. 

Maurice Moshe Gabay, owner of local bookstore, House of David. Moshe comes from a long line of Jewish educators. An immigrant from Morocco, Moshe is proud of his family's role in proliferating Jewish life in LA. Two of his brothers are rabbis at local synagogues, one of which boasts 400 children enrolled in its day school. When asked how he managed to keep his family Jewish over the generations, he emphasized the importance of Jewish education through adulthood. His children all attended boarding schools with seminary programs. He attends temple three times a day to pray and one of his daughters also is a teacher at his family's synagogue.

Paving the way: updates, contests and finding clarity

Picking up momentum.

Some news; a photo I took at Occupy LA was entered into a Global Photojournalism Photo Contest. Vote for it! I also may have a shot featured in NBC LA's online photo gallery. Stay tuned to find out if I make the cut!

Also very excited for the topic of my next multimedia piece. Next week I'm going to go and spend the night at Occupy LA for a couple nights and do a day-in-the-life and interview some occupiers. I look forward to the conversations and the inevitable inspiration.

I met the editor in chief, Ken from The Daily Sundial today and he invited me to be a contributing photographer for the paper. I think it would be a lot of fun and look forward to the opportunity!

Now, to wax poetic:

I'm slowly feeling more confident of my work than I have in the past. Though I am completely aware that I am pretty darn green. Now is the time to choose a path and carve it out.

There are so many avenues for my passion and I can feel that a niche is on the horizon. I like being multi-faceted, but I think I'm beginning to find my bearings in regards to the environments I want to immerse myself in.

In a nutshell, when it comes to visual content, I feel a strong resonance to a couple themes. One would be finding those colorful people in the world and giving them a platform to be seen and understood. I love getting to know people, period. One of my talents is my ability to make people comfortable and open up. That paired with the way I like to frame things visually I think can create an opportunity to feature the "freaks" of society with dignity. Ever since I was introduced to Diane Arbus I knew we were kindred spirits. Captivating viewers into worlds they may have never felt were accessible.

Another angle I'm finding myself more and more attracted to are those topics the public tries to push out of their minds. More specifically, controversial topics and finding the human story in them.

On a purely aesthetic level I love gritty, "grotesque" subjects (inanimate or otherwise) and making them beautiful. It's ironic because the way people depict me when I'm the subjet is almost diametrically opposed to what my choices are for the work I produce.

Will find a way to make it work.

With love and dissent,
Jewell

THE MIDDLE EAST - "Blood"

I am madly in love with this Australian band from Queensland, The Middle East.

His voice and lyrics have such a beautiful, haunting quality, yet the music retains an element of lightness. Touching yet ominous with still a beat to it that makes me want to shuffle my feet in, “Blood.” I love the fact that there is a strong sense of catharsis with him visiting her in her afterlife, but still returning enveloped in color to relality.

Two thumbs up for this band, all around, the look of the video, and this specific song. Great morning music!