Thomas Roma - on Three Pillars - Torah Worship and the Practice of Loving Kindness - The Synagogues of Brooklyn

ROMA, Thomas (photos) Phillip Lopate (text)

ISBN 10: 1576874133 / ISBN 13: 9781576874134

Published by Power House Books, New York, 2007

About this Item

1st printing. Very heavy Elephant Folio in blind and gilt embossed black cloth covered boards, unpaginated, approx. 140pp on thick art paper, mainly beautifully reproduced b/w photos . [CONDITION: NEW unmarked copy in a NEW complete Dust Jacket. An excellent copy ] . __To see more of our Photo books type DbbPHOTO in the Keywords search box . . NOTE: This item weighs over 3 kg (7 lbs) when packed for posting, shipping to some destinations outside the UK may cost more than the price shown. If so, orders made by card will not be processed until you have approved any such extra cost. . We always ship in STRONG PROTECTIVE CARD PARCELS.

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Thomas Roma - on Three Pillars - Torah Worship and the Practice of Loving Kindness - The Synagogues of Brooklyn
• Publisher: Power House Books, New York
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1576874133
• ISBN 13: 9781576874134
• Binding: HARDCOVER
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: As New

About this title

Synopsis

On Three Pillars: Torah, Worship, and Practice of Loving Kindness, The Synagogues of Brooklyn is not meant to be a complete visual inventory of Brooklyn synagogues, past or present, but an evocation of that history into the present day.

Roughly half the photographs in this book are of synagogues functioning today, the balance of buildings that were once synagogues but have since been adapted to other uses (like churches, community centers, government offices). The photographs are divided into five sections, each containing a picture of an empty lot where a synagogue once stood. In these haunting shots, at first we are tempted to wonder which building pictured was once a synagogue, but then we spy the barren ground of the empty lot and understand: none of them.

The work is personal and unavoidably elegiac. Thomas Roma, who with his wife Anna extensively researched Brooklyn synagogues, looking through old real estates records and telephone books, could have easily filled the book with images of presently functioning Jewish houses of prayer, but chose instead to give equal emphasis to buildings deserted by their congregations.

When a congregation quits its house of prayer, do the walls retain a trace of the sacred? If the building is razed do the charred concrete foundations, the weeds, continue to hold a memory of God's name? Roma leaves the choice up to us.

About the Author

Thomas Roma: Twice the recipient of Guggenheim Fellowships and a New York State Council for the Arts Fellowship, Mr. Roma's work has appeared in one-person and group exhibitions internationally, including one-person shows with accompanying books at the Museum of Modern Art NY and the International Center of Photography. He has published 14 monographs to date and has taught photography since 1983, becoming the Director of Photography at Columbia University School of the Arts in 1996 where he is a Professor of Art. His work is in numerous collections, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Art Institute of Chicago; The Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and The Canadian Center for Architecture, Montreal.