P R O J E C T S

HASIDIC BROOKLYN

One of my first personal documentary projects was photographing the Hasidic Jewish neighborhood in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, NY. Williamsburg was Poland but with Chevy station wagons. The signs in Yiddish, the men in traditional black clothes, modestly dressed women in Sheitels (wigs), and so many children. 

The littered streets and the smells wafting from bakeries and restaurants enchanted me. I felt transported back to my ancestors’ everyday lives but also very much in contemporary Brooklyn. I was drawn to the mix of traditional Jewish culture with modernity and the challenge of photographing this insular community. The images are raw, gritty, and full of human connection. Over the course of three years, I realized this project was a personal journey exploring my Jewish identity as well as an exploration of the richness and enigma of Hasidic life.

A line of Hasidic Jewish men in black, from the neck down, holding hands, poised as if dancing or walking.
Two Hasidic Jews under black umbrellas in field next to burning trash, with sparse trees and buildings of Brooklyn in the background.
A tight crowd of women in multi-print dresses, surrounding a bride, greeting each other at a wedding in Hasidic Brooklyn.
A Hasidic Jewish man walks across a rainy street in Brooklyn, carrying "I Love NY" shopping bags.
Hasidic Jewish women in long print dresses and head wraps reach for live chickens from a truck in a crowd of people.
Small boy in navy military-style dress stands on a table before a doting older woman with people dining in the background.
A boy stands on a plastic crate to mount a lighted, Hebrew sign. Its light sillouettes his form and the others who watch.
Hasidic Jewish children play on a giant, yellow amusement park slide. One slides on a burlap sack while others watch.
Hasidic Jewish woman in a black coat and smiling mask with curly blonde wig holding a plastic bag of paper money.
Three rabbis standing around an older woman with curly hair, sitting, who looks up. For image library, by Scott Areman.
A man and woman at a Hasidic Jewish monument surrounded by a brick wall, lit with candles, over a dirt floor.
Hasidic Jewish boys holding photos of a late rabbi. Closeup on one boy's serious face. By an Atlanta lifestyle photographer.
Closeup of two Hasidic Jewish men, one pulling the gray beard of the other, on the street in Brooklyn.
A Hasidic Jewish man with a serious expression, holding up a white chicken toward the camera. For image library.
Two Hasidic Jewish children with dark curls on the black iron railing of a building, up close, from below. By Atlanta lifestyle photographer.
a Hasidic Jewish man in a black hat and long, white beard leans to choose apples from a street stand. For visual storytelling.
A Hasidic Jewish girl, smiling, holds an infant, an adult woman behind her preparing something. For image library.
Three Hasidic Jewish boys of various ages in plaid shirts and dark pants in front of a school bus and people walking down the street. Editorial photography.
A Hasidic Jewish man in white top and dark pants, a Brooklyn stoop on one side, a stack of cardboard boxes on the other.
A Hasidic Jewish girl in a striped jumper grasps the handle of a carriage and looks down at the baby inside, in the yard of a house. For editorial photography.
Three very young Hasidic Jewish children, wearing light-colored clothes, sit on a curb outside a door. Documentary photographer.
Dreamlike image of a smiling woman in a white lace hat/veil looking off to her right, blurred figures in the background.
Hasidic Jewish boy holds a white chicken my the wings in a loose crowd of people, some holding chickens.
Closeup of a rabbi holding open a large scroll with Hebrew writing, gazing at it. By Atlanta lifestyle photographer, Scott Areman.
Hasidic Jewish men wearing black coats and hats around a table of food and drinks talking and smoking. For image library.
Blurred, long-exposure image of men in suits walking and standing in a hall with green-lit wallpaper panels and mauve carpeting.
Blurred image of a Hasidic Jewish man inserting a long pole into a glowing oven in a dark, brick room. By Scott Areman.
Hasidic Jewish children of various ages and dress in a grassy field with Brooklyn buildings in the background.
Jewish man in white in a butcher shop, with various knives and tools around him, cutting meat. By Atlanta lifestyle photographer.
Old woman in a light-colored shawl and head scarf with a red shopping bag over her arm, choosing vegetables at a market.
Four young Hasidic Jewish men stand in a row around a low, black room divider with books scattered on the table in front of them.
The backs of two Hasidic Jewish men with books, children in winter coats on the other side of a fire. Snow blowing in the air.
Two Hasidic Jewish men on a chain-link fenced bridge over traffic, facing each other talking
Two men in white, blood-spattered coats butcher chickens. Metal tables with holes in front and wood crates of chickens behind.
A large, serious woman in a long black coat and head scarf walks down the sidewalk in Hasidic Brooklyn carrying shopping bags.
Closeup of a Hasidic Jewish boy eating an ice cream bar, his curls flying in the breeze. Houses and a blue sky behind him.