Moshe Sopher-Harelick 

“Founders & Leaders” highlights individuals within the various communities I belong to while also providing insight into Jewish life in New York. The work comprises a series of environmental portraits depicting representatives from various social circles, some as wide as the greater Manhattan community and some as narrow as the collective of young Jewish artists called Havurah. The spaces were chosen by either the subject or the artist for their social significance In this image of Edwin, the superintendent of “225”—a building in downtown Manhattan that houses a large population of Jewish students from NYU and other New York City universities—he holds his daughter while surrounded by artifacts such as a menorah and a portrait drawn by a resident of the building.

Moshe Sopher-Harelick is a documentary photographer and photojournalist whose work covers a variety of subjects. His images disrupt the mundane by bringing unique moments and people into the spotlight.