770: Lubavitchs of Brooklyn: Series of 35 photographs

These days, it is pouring with verses. It’s pouring with abject, stupid, terrifying sentences. Everywhere. “There is no small hatred. Hate is always enormous. It conserves importance in the smallest beings and remains a monster. Hate is all the hate in the world”, Victor Hugo.

To stand up against anti-Semitism and its undignified trivialization, the leers, the ignorant remarks, for nowadays, it isn’t rare to hear someone proclaim his hatred loud and clear against this community, the “Jew” fantasy sticks and clings to one like a fly on a cat’s back, to pull the rug from under their feet, the best solution as only mankind can do is to respond with: humour.

“With my co-writer Ben Bensimon we wanted to show another vision of Judaism, at a time when anti-Semitism has become banal. With these images we wanted to reveal a different outlook on the Jewish religion, a positive, poetic, spiritual and humoristic vision, another way to fight common beliefs.”

Their beards keep getting caught in doorways or car doors, they are carrying mountains of books, working, perched on laundry machines… With these scenes, what the viewer sees is the joy, the pleasure, the fait, the knowledge and passion of passing on their heritage. It is funny and at the same time very moving.