CASUAL CONVERSATIONS 2007-2014 — alina Bliumis / jeff Bliumis

I live here now and I am an American citizen, so I am American. —Alex
We are Jewish, we fought in the Russian army during Word War II, and we have American passports, so we chose all three signs. —Boris

Installation view, Casual Conversations, Curated by Megan Whitman, The Laurie M. Tisch Gallery, The JCC of Manhattan, New York 2013-2014

My Judaism informs who I am and the choices I make as an American and as a feminist. I have an activist spirit and a mindful heart and am grateful to be alive. I am curious to see how the thread of aging is woven into and changes that tapestry. —Carol

It is really important for me to keep the memory of my grandparents, Henry and Lora Stern, alive. They fled Germany to escape the Nazis. My grandma talked about it a lot, and my grandpa never did. —Randi

My grandmother was a doctor and traveled abroad with a group called Soviet Doctors for Peace. Now that the world has changed and I live in a free society, I have picked up this torch from my grandmother. I feel that I am a citizen of the world. —Sasha

I speak Russian and identify with Russian culture, but I am not from Russia, but from Ukraine; and I am not Russian or Ukrainian, but I am Jewish, and actually have lived most of my life in New York. It is where I feel at home and I also feel very much at home in Israel, so I have an identity crisis. —Vita

From Selfie to Groupe, publication

CASUAL CONVERSATIONS

Casual Conversations project explores the variety and intricacy of Jewish-American identity. We began our visual survey in the Russian-Jewish immigrant enclave of Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach before expanding to the wider Jewish-American community in locations from New York to Philadelphia, Miami, Sonoma Valley, and St. Paul.

Early one morning, on a sunny July weekend in 2007, we asked beachgoers in Brooklyn’s predominantly Jewish, Russian-speaking Brighton Beach to define their identities. Each participant was asked to pose for a photograph with any or all of three signs reading “Russian,” “Jewish,” and “American,” or to come up with his or her own self-definition by creating a unique sign. By the end of that day, 52 people had posed, and 44 portraits were taken.

From 2012 to 2014, we expanded on the project with new subjects through interactive stations installed at various exhibitions and public events. Participants would write their own identifying phrases with markers on poster boards and pose in front of a backdrop depicting Brighton Beach, photographing themselves with a tripod-mounted camera.

1870 people participated in the project in six locations: the National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia, PA 2012; the Laurie M. Tisch Gallery, the Jewish Community Center of Manhattan, New York, NY 2013-2014; Limmud NY, New York, NY 2014; Jewish Funders Network International Conference, Miami, FL 2014; Limmud Bay Area, Sonoma Valley, CA 2014; and the Jewish Community Center of the Greater St. Paul Area, Saint Paul, MN 2014.

In total, 1,922 people participated in creating a portrait of the community—in its many shades, shapes, and sizes—and a collaborative statement about collective identity. Participants ranged from a two-year-old girl who identified herself as a “future president” to vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman, who identified himself as “a proud and grateful Jewish American.”

The project resulted in the book of photographs and essays From Selfie to Groupie by Alina and Jeff Bliumis; Joshua Ellison, editor; David Shneer, Anya Ulinich, Joshua Ellison, Jenya Gorbatsevich, Konrad Bercovici, authors; Hard cover, 9 x 11 in, 240 pages, 245 color and 14 black-and-white photographs; Release date: May 2015; ISBN 978-0-9797248-2-4 http://www.selfietogroupie.com

Casual Conversations, 2007-2014, Series of 1914 photographs, C-print, 4 x 6 inches each, Edition of 3

Casual Conversations in Brooklyn, New York, 2007, Series of 44 photographs, C-print, 40 x 50 inches each, Edition of 3