No Small Sacrifice: Kaporos In Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Piles of garbage smell so strongly of dead and decaying chickens that passerby sometimes cover mouth and nose. I wanted to see for myself if birds were stuffed into these bags as is commonly asserted by activists and protesters who oppose this yearly event. I was suffering from a bad asthmatic reaction to the birds I had photographed the day before and so could not dig deeply even if I had been able to weather the smell and grime, the leftover fecal matter and everything else left over from the days before. It didn't take long to uncover what I had hoped I wouldn't find as I stood on the sidewalk, trying to be inconspicuous on Yom Kippur with my camera, digging through the garbage.
Mother And Daughter
There is no doubt that this incredibly intricate neighborhood in Williamsburg is a wonderful place. I will always love it with my camera and cherish the time I've spent photographing there. I was alternately confused, disappointed, elated and angered by what I saw and photographed in this series of images. The experience was a profound one for me as a person and practicing street photographer. I felt that most of the images I had seen depicting these rituals used the peculiar, idiosyncratic practice as a vehicle for catchy image making, but had utterly failed to even allude to what was really going on even in the most casually superficial observation of the practices performed in the street. It was an interesting and thought provoking lesson for me, one that I hope I never forget and continue to learn from.