Photographing the Jewish Nation: Pictures from S. An-sky's Ethnographic Expeditions (Tauber Institute Series for the Study of European Jewry)
“Eye-opening . . . Iudovin’s . . . photographs contain novelistic richness.”—The Forward“The 169 photographs are accompanied by six informative and interpretive essays by members of the Petersburg Judaica. The photographs are of utmost importance. They include portraits, some as mug-shots for anthropological documentation, craftsmen staged at their works, teachers and children in traditional schools and views of shtetl homes and squares. An-Sky set out on his expedition to discover and recover the Jewish folk culture and traditions in order to make them available for modern Jewish artists as building blocks for the creation of modern national Jewish culture.” —Jewish Book World“[A] remarkable volume . . . The chapters give a clear picture of the sophistication and originality of Jewish historiography being written today in St. Petersburg; the photographs not only add immediacy, but are part of the argument of the book. Readers may find themselves so entranced by these photographs that they will not even realize how much they are learning.”—Religious Studies Review“Originally prepared in conjunction with an exhibition of the photo archive of An-sky’s expeditions held at the European University in St. Petersburg in 2005, the five essays in the volume are arranged thematically, focusing on different research imperatives inscribing An-sky’s project. The corresponding photograph sets follow immediately after each essay and demonstrate brilliantly An-sky’s attempt to capture the ‘residues of lived culture’ and to craft a particular ethnographic  and cultural space.”—American Jewish Studies Review