Diaspora: Homelands in Exile

Since 1978, French photographer Frédéric Brenner has been chronicling the Jewish Diaspora by producing visual social histories of Jewish communities. Diaspora is a photographic record of his 25-year search for the Jewish population in 40 countries over five continents. Volume I, 344 pages, is a collection of 262 of Brenner’s more than 80,000 photographs, the most extensive and diverse visual record of Jewish life ever created. A four page color insert includes two full-color photographs. Volume II is 164 pages of evocative essays by leading intellectuals on the meaning and significance to each of them of 60 of Brenner’s photographs, reproduced here in smaller format. Diaspora is a landmark project that captures the scope and dynamism of one of the world’s oldest, most diverse communities, and challenges stereotypes held by Jews and non-Jews alike.