014: Bill Aron | Stories of Hope Through a Photographer’s Lens
This week I speak to Bill Aron, an internationally renowned photographer of Jewish communities around the world. Many of the photographs taken throughout his 45+ year career have been exhibited in major museums and galleries throughout the United States and Israel, including the Museum of Modern Art, the International Center for Photography, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Jewish Museum, the Chicago Art Institute, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Mississippi Museum of Art, the Museum of American Jewish History, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, and the Museum of the Diaspora in Tel-Aviv. They have also appeared in a wide variety of publications, and in numerous public and private collections.
Bill gained international recognition for his first book, From the Corners of the Earth, which chronicles the Jewish communities of the former Soviet Union, Cuba, Jerusalem, New York and Los Angeles.
His latest book, New Beginnings: The Triumph of 120 Cancer survivors, focuses on survivors who have not let their cancer diagnosis prevent them from living their lives to the fullest; in many cases, the diagnosis served as an impetus to better their lives.
We talk about why you should never judge someone, what surprised him the most about the parents he interviewed, the important lesson the children he photographed taught him, and the most important thing he wants readers to get from the book.
Bill Aron’s work can be seen at billaron.com
