Artist and photojournalist Katherine Griffiths, winner of the 2016 National Photographic and Portrait Prize, photographed 44 Holocaust Survivors for the Sydney Jewish Museum's Closer exhibition.
These survivors are human links to a horrific past. This exhibition aims to preserve their humanity, and their stories, even as the survivors themselves grow older and pass away.
Each survivor has been photographed with an object, or objects, that link them to their past; from Francine Lazarus and the tea set that she played with while in hiding in Belgium (pictured) to a man holding a uniform he was issued in a concentration camp.
“The individuals in the exhibition were adults, teens and children who spoke different languages and whose subsequent suffering took different forms,” says curator Roslyn Sugarman. “When taken as one, their combined experiences paint a vivid and haunting picture of the German war against the Jews of Europe and the resilience of the Jewish people despite all attempts to annihilate them.”
Entry to Closer: Portraits of Survival is included in the general entry fee to the Sydney Jewish Museum.