Mason Lawrence

L’dor V’dor

For years, I hid behind the camera, capturing my surroundings in an exact and methodical way, engaging in documentary and street style photography. However, I chose to step in front of the camera in order to consider how I position myself in the world as a young Jewish man. L’dor V’dor (From Generation to Generation) is a self-portraiture project in which I examine Jewish symbols and family artifacts while considering my upbringing in an attempt to grapple with, and become closer to, my identity. I started this project as a way to reconnect with my faith. What I came to realize was that it is about a longing to belong.

My grandmother, my family’s Jewish matriarch, received hate mail blaming the COVID-19 pandemic on the Jews. As a response to her experience, I considered the effects that discrimination and trauma can have within an individual, and L’dor V’dor.