The Secret Lives of Orthodox Jewish Women

A chance encounter at a random Shabbat meal in Brooklyn, lead photographer Federica Vallabrega on a multi-year quest to photograph religious Jewish women. She visited communities in New York, Paris and Jerusalem as well as Morocco and Tunisia. There she photographed her usually inaccessible subjects in a quest to both understand and humanize them. The final result was published in a book titled Daughters of the King (available on her web site). The images are all in black and white – perhaps because monochrome is more modest than color? I don’t know – I’m just guessing. Despite the nod to modesty, the images remain striking and intimate and make us privy to a world few people, including Jews, have intimate access to. The book was published in 2017 but the BBC interview with Federica is recent – why? Again – I have no idea. Now stop asking questions and enjoy the clip!

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