Portrait of the artist(s).
This is Tony Vaccaro sitting below this unique and lovely portrait he made of Georgia Okeefe in Santa Fe, NM. I don’t think I’ve seen an image of her like this before. He said they we going for a picnic but it started to rain so they had their picnic in the car. She is looking at him while holding up a piece of Swiss cheese and red wine. I love this portrait. Thank you @cottage8films for spotting it! Tony has had quite an incredible storied life. Look him up!
#tonyvaccarostudio #tonyvaccaro
#georgiaokeeffe #womanartist #aipad2018 (at Pier 94)
Proudest cousin! YES @violetkopp #enough #neveragain #gunsense #nextgeneration #notonemore
Join Violet tonight and #coalitionz near Union Square for their rally with Parkland students. 15th Street Quaker meeting house 5:30-7:30
Evening of action for gun reform led by these students who are mobilizing in such an impressive way because they can make the change that needs to happen.
This is Melissa Weisz in her Williamsburg apartment wearing traditional Hasidic clothing. She left the Satmar community in Borough Park 10 years ago when she was 24 years old. She said leaving her community, especially her husband, parents, 6 sisters, and 2 brothers, was the most terrifying and liberating moment in her life. “I wish I could’ve stayed. After trying for years, I was finally ready to lose and risk everything to live the life that felt right to me. But I had so much guilt and shame for leaving, hurting the people I love most. It was a painful process. My family is so important to me and I didn’t want to hurt my husband. He’s a good person. When I first left, I had a roommate who also left the religious community. She struggled a lot and took her own life. It was scary. I think my family worried that would happen to me if I felt alone and not supported. They have made a lot of effort to accept my choices and we’ve worked hard on our relationship. I don’t feel alone, but I often feel like a foreigner in my own city. That’s why most of my friends are European. Maybe we connect as outsiders living in this big unfamiliar world together.” The second photo is Melissa in her bedroom. She is a producer and actor, often cast in yiddish speaking roles.
Thank you so much @melissaweisz @voguemagazine @rubenramos
#offthederech #americanwomen #transformations #voguemagazine #womenshistorymonth
This photograph is in honor of all the women who cannot live how they wish and have to suffer in silence. I blurred the photograph in order to protect her identity, but I will refer to her as L.
L is an anonymous woman, born into a Hasidic sect. L’s family arranged a marriage for her and she met her husband an hour before they got engaged. L is agnostic and secretly lives a secular life. When she takes the train from Brooklyn to Manhattan she removes her wig and long skirt and becomes a secular woman. She said it’s a double life and has constant anxiety of being discovered for fear of being kicked out and losing her children.
L says “In this patriarchal society, making life choices is seen as a rebellion instead of an informed adult decision. I stay because I’m afraid of losing my children. They could be brainwashed against me.“
#internationalwomensday
Thank you L @voguemagazine
@rubenramos @yoavfriedlander @spitzmelissa @liana_ava
Risking the loss of everything you’ve ever known to live a more authentic life, is a true act of courage.
This is Abby Stein in her bedroom with her 6 year old son’s photograph hanging above her. (I blurred his photos in order to protect his identity)
Now a trans activist, just 5 years ago Abby was an ultra-Orthodox rabbi from a high-ranking Hasidic dynasty. Although she followed the traditional path of a young Hasidic man - Yeshiva, an arranged marriage at 18, Abby always felt different, but didn’t understand what that exactly meant. Although she grew up in Brooklyn, Abby’s first language is Yiddish. She had no access to the internet, TV, music, literature, so at the age of 20 she taught herself English. A breakthrough came when she used her friends tablet to connect to wi-fi and typed “a boy turning into a girl.” She quickly learned she was not alone and started to question the hermetically sealed community she was raised in. She also knew leaving would come at tremendous cost. She could lose her son. She said, “To some extent, leaving the community was even harder than transitioning. I had no idea what I was getting into. I didn’t know anyone, couldn’t speak the language, and didn’t have an education. I didn’t know how to dress. I didn’t know how to talk. I remember the first time walking into a Starbucks, I was like, ‘OK, what’s happening here?’ The culture shock is just in every level, every way. … It’s like being an immigrant in your own country…It was a slow process it didn’t happen overnight.” Abby is now a student at Columbia University and sends her family a text every week wishing them a good Shabbat. They haven’t responded to her yet.
The second photo is Abby 5 years ago, taken by Eve Singer, when Abby was Rabbi Yisroel.
Thank you @abbychavastein @voguemagazine @rubenramos @yoavfriedlander @spitzmelissa
#womensinternationalday #offthederech #otd #americanwomen #transformations
This is Alejo Rodriguez. I met him almost two years ago at Otisville Prison. He was an inmate there, incarcerated for 32 years. I was nine months pregnant and there to screen Southern Rites. He facilitated the lively discussions and always made sure I had water, and a comfortable chair because he wanted me off of my feet, worried I was going to go into labor. Tonight I had the joy of seeing him as a free man. He spoke about all the small pleasures he is relishing. This is the first time in his life he’s had a dish rack, cutting board, and a phone. He is teaching at John Jay and is making a film. He had a smile from ear to ear and it was contagious. Thank you Aperture for this evening, and shining light on our #prisonnation Get the magazine and see this exhibition. #southernrites #getliftedfilmco (at Aperture Foundation)
Last week Ivana Trump gave me parenting advice when I photographed her in her Manhattan home…
“Keep the children busy, busy, busy so they come back at 7 and are so tired they have no time for drugs. Teach them not to lie, make them work hard, and don’t give them a lot of money. I have friends whose children wake up at two in the afternoon and they have a black Visa card and only spend money. Teach them discipline and give them good values. That’s what makes a good society.” I asked if she’s happy with how her ex-husband raised her children. Ivana replied, “He didn’t raise them, I did.”
I also asked if she’d want to be first lady. She said she likes her freedom too much. She lives a lifestyle that she can afford herself and spends her summers in St. Tropez and and winters in Miami.
Swipe left for more behind the scenes images and video.
Thank you @paulmoakley @kirapollack @time @yoavfriedlander