blog Shulamit Seidler-Feller

OK: full on obsessed with these. Last month I was brought on to...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:05:50 -0400

OK: full on obsessed with these. Last month I was brought on to photograph an innovative and exciting gathering of Jewish artists from all over the world called Asylum Artist Retreat. The retreat took place at the Garrison Institute (an old Catholic turned Buddhist monastery) in Garrison, NY. This is such a beautiful part of the Hudson Valley and it served as the perfect backdrop to the 3 days spent collaborating, brainstorming and learning between the artists and educators.

On the last night there, the organizers threw a dance party for all the participants and I set up a rad Photo Booth! I used instant Fuji film in my Polaroid Colorpack to make awesome little prints, which we gave to the artists to take home, but not before asking them to pose with them for my digicam. They were such a fun and energetic group to work with! It was a pleasure to be there and great to have a little creative outlet where people really got into it. It was a total analog and digital tag team! Check out the whole album here.

This is a long overdue post! Back in the fall, UJA-Federation of...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:32:40 -0400

This is a long overdue post! Back in the fall, UJA-Federation of New York sent me all over Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island to document damage from Hurricane Sandy and the volunteer work being organized by several of their beneficiary agencies. I ended up shooting both stills and video for them; check out some of my footage in this video.

Aside from the sweeping devastation of the storm, I witnessed unbelievable solidarity and generosity in the communities impacted by the storm. People from all over the city worked around the clock to provide food, clothing, shelter and medication to victims—really rallying together in a way that made me proud to call myself a New Yorker.

I spent a considerable time out in these areas over the weeks that followed the storm, and have been back in recent months to document the slow rebuilding process in the devastated Rockaways. During this time, I made some of my own images, which I am posting here. I am pleased to note that several images were included in a recent exhibition at POWERHOUSE Arena in DUMBO (a space also damaged greatly in the storm) in a show presented by the New York Photo Festival entitled SANDY: Devastation, Document, Drive. Check out the online gallery here.

The same week as the Clair Huxtable sighting, I presented at a...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:47:36 -0400

The same week as the Clair Huxtable sighting, I presented at a conference called Limmud NY—a weekend gathering of Jews from all over who come together to teach and learn from one another. As part of a group of three artists teaching in an interactive space (appropriately titled ArtSpace), we led sessions centered around a Garden of Eden theme using photography, puppetry and fabric art for both adults and kids. It was wonderful to see conference attendees of all kinds participate in this creative experiment.

I am posting two images from ArtSpace here: the top one features the Tree of Life built from paper mache and decorated with puppets and photographs made by participants. The bottom image features the fabric mural of the Tree of Knowledge. Love the apple niche in the Tree of Life!

Things have been so hectic between work and travel over the past...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:11:00 -0400

Things have been so hectic between work and travel over the past few months! As a result that I have fallen a little behind on posting regularly. I have much to report.

Back in February, JP Morgan hired me to photograph the reception for their annual Gish Prize reception in which they honor a significant artist and cultural figure. This year’s recipient was Anna Deavere Smith—a woman whose work I have admired for years! It was all I could do to keep from telling her that I used her one woman show Twilight: Los Angeles as major inspiration for my undergraduate thesis. I managed to hold back and focus my attention on the task at hand. Needless to say, there were many attendees of note present, including one Ms. Phylicia Rashad, another personal hero of mine. I scrambled to get as many images of the two of them together as possible, one of which I am posting here. What a night! Crain’s posted several of my images from the night on their website; click here to view.

Back in the laundromat this morning before I head to LA...

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:52:45 -0400

Back in the laundromat this morning before I head to LA tomorrow.

What a beautiful day for an outdoor photo shoot! Hanging out in...

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:00:00 -0400

What a beautiful day for an outdoor photo shoot! Hanging out in Van Cortlandt Park with my SARniks.

For the past few months, I have been shooting at my local...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 18:14:00 -0500

For the past few months, I have been shooting at my local laundromat whenever I go to do my laundry. Apart from being an good exercise for me in thinking about image making at all times, it has become a way to study how the laundromat brings together all slices of life from my neighborhood in one space at one time. I learn details about the people I live next door to, down the street from. A banal chore becomes a window into a life.

Found this never used lipstick case and mirror while cleaning...

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 23:19:00 -0500

Found this never used lipstick case and mirror while cleaning out Savti’s apartment today.

Polaroids from a trip taken a few weeks ago to a friend’s...

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 00:04:47 -0500

Polaroids from a trip taken a few weeks ago to a friend’s lake house in Massachusetts…

Savti had another fall last week and badly bruised her chest and...

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 16:03:00 -0500

Savti had another fall last week and badly bruised her chest and wrist. She claims to have fallen asleep and then out of her chair, but I think she fainted. Her doctors tell us that her heart failure is getting more serious and that her body is having difficulty getting rid of excess fluid, which accounts in part for why an early leg injury has not yet healed. She refuses to have value replacement surgery for her heart, which could greatly improve her quality of life—as it stands she has trouble breathing and her blood pressure is of concern—but this is her choice.

I found this Polaroid the other day stuck between two books...

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 13:59:00 -0400

I found this Polaroid the other day stuck between two books while I was trying to tidy. It’s a portrait I took years ago—maybe 6 or 7, of my brother, Shaul. It was shot on Polaroid that is no longer, the luminous Type 55. Ugh, just thinking about Type 55 makes my stomach ache with nostalgia. This particular stock would produce both a positive print, like the one above, as well as a printable negative, which was especially useful if one was were pressed for time in shooting.

It’s strange to look at this image now; Shaul has grown up quite a lot over past few years. I remember him being a little annoyed with me that I wanted to take this picture, since Shabbat was about to start and he had to leave to go to shul. I had him sit for me in my parents backyard (which gets beautiful even afternoon light) and quickly made this portrait. I love how skin tones register on Type 55; they have an absolutely metallic sheen.

After BCI ended a few weeks ago, I decided to take a little road...

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 23:45:00 -0400

After BCI ended a few weeks ago, I decided to take a little road trip up the coast to visit friends in the Bay Area before coming back to New York. My first stop was Sarah who lives in a little mountain town called Ben Lomond outside of Santa Cruz. Staying with Sarah and her boyfriend Jason was a delight—their home is a lovely little cottage filled with books and plants. There is even a rascally dog named Roscoe: part guard dog, part cuddly companion.

We had a great night of eating, drinking, and lingering conversation before attempting to get some sleep. The next day, Sarah took me on a little walk down to Love Creek Road, apparently the most infamous road in Ben Lomond. According to Sarah, there was a terrible mudslide in this area back in 1982 that killed some locals and destroyed many homes on and around the road. Marking the tragedy is a memorial at the end of the road that includes a giant toy box (a reference to children killed in the storm), a giant wooden cross, and a handwritten plaque. Sarah tells me that the toys in the box often change, since residents will trade new toys in for the old ones, creating a sort of living memorial.

It was crazy to think that everything we saw had not been there longer than 30 years. The homes looked absolutely embedded into the landscape, as did some of the residents we spied on our stroll. I felt a bit like an impostor there, stumbling onto a piece of the town’s collective memory. Still, I wanted to drink it all in—the gorgeous light, dense forest, winding creek, and ramshackle look of some of the homes.

Check out Sarah’s musings on dog wrangling, mountain living, and dissertation writing on her own awesome blog here.

I went back to the nest a week and a half later to see how the...

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 23:16:00 -0400

I went back to the nest a week and a half later to see how the babies were doing. They had grown so much and looked nearly ready to fly off and make their own way. It was amazing to see such a stark change such a short time later. As you can see, they barely fit in the nest—the two of them squished in there side by side.

While I was photographing them, I heard a loud flapping sound and looked up to see the mother hummingbird up on a high branch. She had returned and was trying to scare me off by making loud noises, signaling her dominance I suppose. You can see her tiny shadow in the top image. What a feisty little hummingbird.

Raffael then took me just a little ways down the dry creek bed...

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 22:40:00 -0400

Raffael then took me just a little ways down the dry creek bed to see another remarkable piece of the landscape. He told me to look up and pointed out a massive tree trunk, laying horizontal on another tree, being supported by it entirely. The second tree had seemingly adapted to this role happily, growing around the top trunk. It occurred to me that since these were far from young trees, that these too must have been in this symbiotic embrace for dozens of years, if not longer.

We stayed there for a while, talking and marveling at this world so alive in so many ways. Through the course of our conversation, I finally was able to tease pieces of Raffael’s life story out of him and learned about how he met his ex-wife, some of the places he has lived, and the giant screw he travelled around the world with for seven years before sinking it in India.

Raffael came up to me after workshop a few weeks ago and said,...

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 22:20:00 -0400

Raffael came up to me after workshop a few weeks ago and said, “If I promise to show you something amazing, will you photograph it for me?”

He took me up the back road to a big tree near the Alonim prayer space and told me that there was a hummingbird’s nest on a low branch of the tree. I had never seen any kind of bird’s nest up close before. To be able to see the beautiful careful construction of the nest, as well as the baby birds inside definitely felt amazing. I felt like I had witnessed some part of nature I was not supposed to see, one of those parts of our lifecycle that we all know about, but rarely get to experience.

I’m spending the next three and a half weeks in Simi...

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 22:28:00 -0400

I’m spending the next three and a half weeks in Simi Valley, CA teaching photography at a Summer institute called BCI. In the short time that I have been here I have just been taking in the natural surroundings and wildlife native to this area. The campus is full of animal life, succulents of all kinds, and some amazing run down buildings. It has been wonderful to spend some time feeling inspired outside of New York and near the place I grew up. I look forward to getting to spend time engaging with my surroundings and getting to know the rest of the staff as well as the BCI participants more intimately and I’m really excited to use my camera as a tool in the process!

28th St Station

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:16:54 -0400

28th St Station

I was in L.A. last week visiting family and friends and I...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:24:45 -0400

I was in L.A. last week visiting family and friends and I finally broke down and bought the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone. Definitely worth the $1.99 I shelled out.

A couple more from my last shoot at P.S. 76…

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 17:22:00 -0500

A couple more from my last shoot at P.S. 76…

I decided to start photographing the area around P.S. 76 after...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 19:02:01 -0500

I decided to start photographing the area around P.S. 76 after getting a closer look at this industrial neighborhood of New York. Packed with auto shops, abandoned storefronts, and public housing, the area has an interesting mix of businesses and residential spaces juxtaposed and jumbled together. Since I just bought a Polaroid Colorpack II for a cool $10, I decided to test it out on my walk back to the F train.