SOUTH WILLIAMSBURG
SOUTH WILLIAMSBURG
CREDITS
In classic street photography style, William Castellana (b. 1968) shows us the orthodox Hasidic Jewish community of New York, and how they conduct their lives out in the streets of Brooklyn. He has lived next door to the group for almost 20 years, but despite this continued proximity, he remains very much an outsider to the closed community wary of outsiders.
In his series South Williamsburg, “community” is the keyword. Looking from the outside in, the sense of belonging in the Hasidic community seems obvious to the viewer: we see families and groups gathered in the streets for meetings and celebrations, always together, hand-in-hand, leaning on each other, across generations. We also see many children and adolescents being groomed into becoming parts of the community. The extent of this process is signified by their instantly recognizable religious clothing—especially when it comes to the men.
