Seligenstadt Synagogue in Wet Plate Collodion

Today, I made the image that will appear on the first page of my book (I think). The image shows the original steps of the Seligenstadt synagogue. These steps are the only thing left of the synagogue. It was burned on November 9/10, 1938 during Kristallnacht. If you think about the metaphor of stairs (especially ascending/descending) you'll get where I'm going with this.

The emptiness is what moves me the most when I'm making photographs where the mighty, vibrant synagogues once stood in these small villages. I'm almost trying to photograph what isn't there. It's very difficult to do. It's also very sad.  

A friend from Berlin, Jan, met us in Seligenstadt this morning. His mother lives there and his step-father has done an enormous amount of research on the Jewish community (that was) in Seligenstadt. 

After making a positive image and a negative image of the same scene (the steps), we (Summer, Jan and I) went for coffee and looked at the "stumbling stones" around the village. There was a significant Jewish community that lived in this village until 1938. It's the same story in all of these places. Jan had newspaper clippings from the Seligenstadt newspaper (from 1935) that showed a page of ads for office furniture, shoes and clothes, and in the middle of these "common ads" was another kind of ad that read, "The Jews are our misfortune" ("Die Juden sind unser Unglück"). Mind-blowing and very educational.

The last two images are the positive (8x10 Black Glass Ambrotype) and the negative (8x10). I'll make a POP print this week of of the negative.

Seligenstadt Synagogue Remains 
I wasn't sure about the light, being in a hole and surrounded with "red" and "yellow". 
"Where does the shadow of my hand fall?" 1100 hours, 4 second exposure. 
Pouring Collodion on an 8"x10" piece of black glass.  
Putting the "loaded" plate holder onto the camera.  
Processing the plate.

"Seligenstadt Synagogue Stairs" 8"x10" Black Glass Ambrotype (sold) 
8"x10" negative - Seligenstadt Synagogue Stairs. 
I'm going back to Seligenstadt next week. We're suppose to have a key to get into the Juden Friedhof (Jewish cemetery) - it was vandalized during Kristallnacht as well. Look for those images next week!

Thank you Summer and Jan. It was a great day. This is very important work, thanks for being a part of it.

German Town Nixes Kristallnacht Ceremony

The German town of Görlitz is refusing to allow its Jewish community to hold its own ceremony marking Kristallnacht.

After Kristallnacht. Instead, the only ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom will be held by the local Protestant church, which has traditionally focused on all victims of the Third Reich.

The small Jewish community had planned to bring a Torah scroll from Dresden into a newly renovated synagogue, which dates from 1909. It is the only synagogue to have survived Kristallnacht in the state of Saxony.

But the city insists that ceremonies must be secular and inclusive. The former synagogue was deconsecrated after the 1938 pogrom. Following its six-year renovation, the structure now has room for 230 guests.

"The city has canceled the entire event planned by the Jewish community and the Society for the Promotion of the Synagogue," which was to include several performances and speeches,  Alex Jacobowitz, cantor and chairman of the town's tiny Jewish community, told JTA.

He insisted that the Jewish community's program would be inclusive.

The Society for the Promotion of the Synagogue is a secular group authorized to hold ecumenical events in the building. It cooperates with the Jewish community. Now, only the ceremony run by the local Protestant church is still scheduled to take place in the building.

The city bought the synagogue from the remnant Dresden Jewish community in 1963, and then formally purchased it again from the Claims Conference after German unification, according to Jacobowitz, a musician who came from New York to Germany in 1991.

The approximately 30-member Jewish community has held services in a small sanctuary within the building for about a year, Jacobowitz said.

Story from JTA - http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/110844.html

Kristallnacht Remnants Unearthed Near Berlin

A huge dumping ground for the destroyed remains of Jewish property plundered during Kristallnacht has been found north of Berlin by an investigative journalist.

The destruction from Kristallnacht. The site, which is the size of four football pitches, in Brandenburg, contains an extensive array of personal and ceremonial items looted during orchestrated nationwide riots against Jewish property and places of worship on the night of November 9 1938. It is believed the goods were brought by rail to the outskirts of the village and dumped on designated land.

Yaron Svoray, the Israeli journalist who made the discovery, said it was a happy coincidence that he had stumbled across the artifacts so close to the 70th anniversary of the pogrom, also known as the Night of Broken Glass. (The Full Article Here - from The Guardian)
Photo: Jewish shops laid waste on Kristallnacht in 1938. Battmann/Corbis

I'm headed to Berlin Friday (24th Oct), I would really like to check this out. I doubt I could get anywhere near it though. I'm not even sure they've released the exact location yet. Here's a video of Yaron talking about what he found.

"We're Cleaning Up In Hessen"

This says, "We're Cleaning Up"

It's disturbing, and scary, when I see these kinds of blatant displays of hate and racism in a country like this.

It's from a political party here called "National Democratic Party". One poll cites that the majority of the population in Germany considers the NPD to be undemocratic and damaging to the image of the country. The NPD is viewed by its opponents and the mainstream media as a de facto neo-Nazi organization. The party opposes the increasing number of non-whites, Jews, and Muslims living in Germany. Don't misunderstand me, I think they should have the right to speak and express themselves. What I worry about is the fragility of this culture and inciting the people here. This is a very fragile place that way.

This poster says, "We're Cleaning Up" and the other one says, "We're Cleaning Up In Hessen". We live in Hessen. Think about the metaphor of cleaning up as it relates to this history. And the sheep! Wow! I suppose they know their demographic.

I'm not saying that if I lived in the United States, my neighbors would be tolerant and peaceful. However, I wonder if I drove down the street in Littletown, USA if I would see something like this?

"We're Cleaning Up In Hessen!"

Fallen Leaves

Today, I tried to take advantage of the beautiful weather here in Germany. It's late October and it's sunny and 16C (55F). Perfect weather for making plates.

I pulled out a new piece of black plastic (acrylic) and went to work. I mounted my Hermagis lens and stopped it down to a number six (6) Waterhouse stop. I'm going to make an educated guess here and say that would be about an f/30. Why? It's a 15" lens and the stop #6 is about .5"  - do the math.

Anyway, I decided I wanted to work on some kind of still life/landscape image. I chose to use the stopped down lens to show infinite (or close to it) depth and detail.

I chose to photograph our cherry tree. Cherry trees symbolize death, rebirth and new awakenings (among many other things including food and ornamental uses). Our cherry tree only produces fruit every other year. This year it didn't and I missed those delicious cherries (Kirschen).

Ever since I visited the Jewish Museum in Berlin, fallen leaves remind me of the faces in the piece called, "Fallen Leaves" - I did a 20 second video while I was walking on the "faces" - it was, loud and disconcerting.

 

I wanted to explore this idea of "fallen leaves" and yet show something resilient and strong (the tree trunk). So I setup this shot.

First, I took a jug of water and I poured it on the tree trunk. I knew it would help define the "texture/scars" on the trunk and make it dark. Water, or wet things, has/have an interesting relationship with Collodion. I really like the effect of something wet or something steel with Collodion (I think it's the reflection or sheen).

Next, I made a test exposure. It was way underexposed at 8 seconds. The next exposure, I went 16 seconds, still under and finally, after three plates, made this at 40 seconds.

"Fallen Leaves" - Cherry Tree, Viernheim, Germany

It's an 8x10 "Acrylotype" (made on a piece of black plastic). I'm happy with it. I love the light. It was early enough that this portion of my yard was still in the shade. I love how the leaves are the things that pickup, and reflect, the new morning light... and the trunk, standing tall and strong. It's surrounded with darkness and "things" coming out, or even reaching out, of that darkness. It's symbolic for me.