“Hate is survivable; indifference is not,” said acclaimed fashion photographer Bryce Thompson. “These Holocaust survivors stand as living testaments, urging us never to forget that empathy and action are often the difference between life and oblivion.”
Thompson, who was born in South Africa, initiated a project titled “Borrowed Spotlight,” featuring intimate portraits of 18 Holocaust survivors alongside celebrities. The basic idea: the celebrities are “lending” their spotlights to the last living generation of Holocaust survivors, with the goal of sharing their stories beyond our usual echo chambers. The project culminated into an elegant 320-page coffee table book, which can be ordered at borrowed-spotlight.com.
The three-year project was initially fueled by the antisemitism that Thomson, who is not Jewish, saw his friends and mother, who converted to Judaism, have faced in recent years. The project assumed greater relevance after Oct. 7. Coinciding with Yom HaShoah, the exhibit launched at the Detour Gallery in NYC on April 22.
Thompson is known for his ability to capture intimate moments that highlight resilience and hope. His portraits showcase not only the unwavering strength of all the survivors but also his commitment to using art to spark change.
“Holocaust survivors are few and far between. Special people with special stories, and I really felt like they need to be told,” Thompson said at the opening. “Firsthand was really important to me. Hearing a story from someone who has told a story is not the same as sitting in a room with someone who lived through something.”
With a Foreword by Cindy Crawford, the book features David Schwimmer, Jennifer Garner, Chelsea Handler, Daniela Braga, Julius Erving, Barbara Corcoran, Wolf Blitzer, Sheryl Sandberg, and Kat Graham, among others.
“When I was asked to participate in this book, it was an instant yes. I’ve always believed in being part of the solution, not the problem,” Crawford writes in the foreword. “The opportunity to meet and converse with a Holocaust survivor felt deeply meaningful.” Crawford’s husband is Jewish, and their kids are being raised with an appreciation for both Christianity and Judaism.
One section of the book showcases notes written by some survivors about life, hope, and reflection. “I am writing this to urge the world to bring only positive thoughts to one another and let love flow,” writes Risa Igelfeld, 107.
The Holocaust survivors in the series include natives of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Belgium, Romania and one man who was born in a Budapest ghetto basement during a bombing raid in 1944. The photographs feature survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto, Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, and one person who survived 12 concentration camps. The photo series also highlights a survivor of the Farhud pogrom that targeted Jews in Baghdad, Iraq.
“In these pairings, recognition is redirected, and the attention so often given to fame is instead used to illuminate history,” read a wall text at the exhibit. “The result is a series of intimate portraits and conversations where past and present collide, where silence is broken, and where remembrance becomes an act of defiance against forgetting.”
Jewish actress Kat Graham is photographed in the portrait series with Holocaust survivor Yetta Kane. At the exhibit opening, Graham said Thompson’s portraits capture “truth, resilience, and humanity.” Graham’s maternal grandmother fled Europe during the Holocaust. The photographs “build a bridge between generations; a conversation between memory and legacy.”
“This project is about remembrance but it’s also about responsibility,” she told the crowd. “We are the torchbearers now. It is up to us to keep these stories alive and to ensure that history is never forgotten. That the voices of survivors are not only heard, but felt. I invite you to see, to feel, and to carry these faces with you, long after you leave.”
“My grandmother, a Bergen-Belsen survivor, died earlier this year, so this project is especially close to my heart,” project producer Daniella Greenbaum told The Journal.
There are currently more than 200,000 Holocaust survivors worldwide. According to a new report by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, nearly half of all Holocaust survivors will die within the next six years, while 70% will no longer be alive within 10 years. There are estimated to be more than 1,400 alive today who are over 100 years old.
And yet: 20% of people globally have never heard of the Holocaust; less than half recognize its historical accuracy; and more than 60% don’t know that 6 million Jews were murdered. In a world of fake “influencers,” this project is indeed a good use of fame.
Proceeds from the book sales will support Holocaust education. Proceeds from a private auction of select prints will benefit Selfhelp Community Services, which provides services and assistance to Holocaust survivors in New York and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Sadly, nothing is sacred in NYC anymore. The day after the opening, posters showing the portraits were ripped down, just like the hostage posters. Whatever moral clarity that was gained after the Holocaust and 9/11 is now gone.
Still, nothing can diminish the profound elegance of the photos, the testimonies of the survivors, and the beautiful soul of the photographer. Thompson understands the historical and moral necessity of documenting the lives and testimonies of survivors — as well as the necessity in this superficial world of compiling them into an exquisite book. Memes can be deleted; videos erased; posters torn down. But this book remains: a project of respect, resilience, and hope.
Karen Lehrman Bloch is editor in chief of White Rose Magazine.
