Taking a Broad View: Portrait Photography from the Collection

More than 24 images by 13 photographers working in the US from the late 19th through the early 21st centuries. Their photography ranges across genres and most are keenly aware of the medium’s power to shape individual and group identities—to resist or reinforce stereotypes. About Derfner Judaica Museum + Art Collection at Hebrew Home at Riverdale is pleased to announce our upcoming exhibition, Taking a Broad View: Portrait Photography from the Collection , which will be on view from October 5, 2026, through January 24, 2027. The public is invited to free talks in the Museum on Sunday, October 11, at 2 p.m. during New York State’s Path Through History Weekend, and in conjunction with Open House New York on Sunday, October 18, at 2 p.m. An artists’ panel in collaboration with En Foco will take place in the Museum on Thursday, December 3, at 6:30 p.m. RSVP for programs at art@riverspring.org or 718 581.1596. Admission to the Museum is always free. Photo I.D. required for entry. Taking a Broad View: Portrait Photography from the Collection features more than two dozen images by thirteen photographers working in the United States from the late nineteenth through the early twenty-first centuries. Their photography ranges across genres including environmental, group, and family portraits. At the same time, most of the photographers are keenly aware of the medium’s power to shape individual and group identities—to resist or reinforce stereotypes. Subjects represent a diverse cross-section of identities—from women rabbis, cantors, faculty, and students at the Jewish Theological Seminary in Manhattan by Frédéric Brenner (b. Paris, France, 1959) to a girl with her mother and younger sister preparing for first communion in the Bronx by Larry Fink (b. Brooklyn, New York, 1941–d. Martins Creek, Pennsylvania, 2023); from Cuban American princesses in a staged self-portrait tableau by GisMo (Jessica Gispert, b. Miami, Florida, 1984, and Crystal Pearl Molinary, b. Hialeah, Florida, 1983) in Miami to the potters of a Pueblo community in the Southwest by Toba Tucker (b. Bronx, New York, 1935). The exhibition also includes portraits of such iconic cultural and historical figures as Ray Charles, James Dean, Betty Friedan, Lee Krasner, Pete Seeger, and Frank Sinatra. Marking the 250th anniversary of the United States, this exhibition highlights how photography constructs and critiques American social identities through both insider and outsider perspectives while showing how photographers can build and extend empathy across communities. Additional photographers in the exhibition include Alice Austen (b. New York, New York, 1866–d. New York, New York, 1952); Judy Gelles (b. Somersworth, New Hampshire, 1944–d. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2020); Bernard Gotfryd (b. Radom, Poland, 1924–d. New York City, 2016); James J. Kriegsmann (b. Vienna, Austria, 1909–d. Queens, New York, 1994); Richard Schulman (b. Los Angeles, 1954); Neal Slavin (b. Brooklyn, New York, 1941); Cedric Smith (b. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1970); Joseph Squillante (b. Bronx, New York, 1949); and Phil Stern (b. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1919–d. Los Angeles, California, 2015). Museum hours: Sunday–Thursday, 10:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Photo ID is required for all visitors to the Hebrew Home campus. Call 718.581.1596 or email art@riverspring.org to schedule in-person or virtual group tours or for holiday hours. For further information, visit our website at www.derfner.org. Read more Toggle Photography