Provocative Photo Project Goes Viral Among Orthodox Students

‘What I Be’ portrait series makes waves at Yeshiva University

By Hannah Dreyfus for Tablet Magazine

Mati Engel, a student photographer at Yeshiva University’s Stern College, believes staunchly in the power of photography to create change. That’s why Engel contacted Steve Rosenfield, the photographer who created the What I Be photo project in 2010, and asked him to come to Yeshiva University.

“I first met Steve at Princeton University, where he had taken What I Be,” Engel told me. “I was blown away by his photography. I knew that the Orthodox Jewish community could benefit greatly from his work.”

That’s because What I Be is more than an art exhibit—it’s a social experiment. Rosenfield writes bold statements in black ink on his subjects’ face, chest, or arms before taking a straight-on headshot. Next to the photograph reads the statement: “I am not my ______,” filled in by each subject with his or her greatest insecurity or fear.

“There’s so much fear and judgment in our community,” Engel explained. “I thought this project would be a perfect chance to undo some of the stigmas that plague our religious world.”

The project became exactly that. In creating a What I Be series for the “Jews of NYC,” Rosenfield waded through some of the community’s greatest fears and stigmas, one photograph at a time.

“I AM Observant,” were the words Dina Horowitz, a 2011 Stern graduate, chose to have sketched onto her forehead and arm. Next to the photograph she wrote the caption: I am not my pants. Interpreted as a tenet of modesty, many see a woman’s decision of whether or not to wear pants as a litmus test for religiosity.

“People have questioned my observance because of how I dress,” Horowitz told me. “Participating in this project was my way of speaking out against those who judge others on such insignificant details.”

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