Public Project
American Portraits: 1978-2006
All About Photo is pleased to present American Portraits: 1978-2006 by Saul Bromberger
Ann Jastrab, is the curator for this month's show.
Part of the exclusive online showroom developed by All About Photo, this exhibition is on view for the months of September 2021 and includes twenty photographs from the series 'American Portraits: 1978-2006'.
AMERICAN PORTRAITS 1978-2006
Many years later now that I am 63 years old, I have learned that it was in my early 20's when I had found my voice. It was then that I realized that my point of view had value and that I had something important to say and share with the world. I was capturing poignant scenes in our communities that I felt were significant for how they described the American culture, moments that captured American as well as universal sensibilities. Scenes that captured essential truths about people's hopes and their successes, their challenges and despair, their individuality and their relationships, during their day to day lives in our American communities. Scenes that defined an American way of life for me.
Over the 28 years of this documentary project, from 1978-2006, this is what drove me to create a portrait of America that I had observed as an outsider, because of my experiences as an immigrant where I never really fit into American society. I was born in Israel in 1957, immigrated to America as a 9-year-old with my family in 1967, and as a teenager I helped my parents run our restaurant, while in high school I barely said a word in 4-years.
It was through photography then that I found myself, as I discovered over time that I could connect with people, reveal my personality, express my opinion, interpret what I saw and felt, and be recognized and honored for my way of seeing.
Starting in the late 1970's, I found myself gravitating to scenes that pulsated with American themes and values. I had become a photo-journalist working for several newspaper photography staffs in California and Washington State, and oftentimes during my assignments I also captured these scenes in social gatherings, parades, business events, political receptions, at county fairs, and much more, scenes that excited me for how they captured an America that I was beginning to understand. Scenes where many people, often white and wealthy, have a life of excess and privilege, while many other people struggle just to survive. People who live in small rural towns and in the larger cities, each group with its own pace of life and traditions, with American values that are vastly different from one another.
An America that I found fascinating and perplexing, that I was documenting from an outsider's point of view.
Saul Bromberger - American Portraits: 1978-2006All-about-photo.com
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