Published by Saint Lucy Books, photographer Hannah Altman’s new book, We Will Return To You, considers how Jewish storytelling is translated and transformed through photographs by evoking the enigmatic, ritualistic, and multi-layered world of folklore. The 71 color photographs in the book, often portraits, are illuminated by Altman’s distinctive use of natural light.
Altman’s work is rooted in Jewish folklore, using stories, symbols, and rituals to shape the foundations of her images. Her photographs reinterpret objects and traditions from Judaica, placing them in contemporary settings. She bridges the past and the present, creating a visual narrative that expands and carries forward cultural memory.
The photographs in We Will Return To You include self-portraits and extended community, as well as still lifes of ritual objects and natural elements. Altman’s portraits are multi-faceted and tactile, often set in dense landscapes like homes, forests, and overgrown fields. Her still lifes—a pile of salt, an axe strung on a rope between trees, a mirror submerged in water—are charged with mystery. Together, these images, rich with symbolism, create an ethereal yet grounded world steeped in a sense of timelessness.
An excerpt from the book forms the foundation for her exhibition, As It Were, Suspended in Midair, in the Kniznick Gallery at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute at Brandeis University, running until June 12, 2025.
“Layering symbols and allusions, Altman builds a world that recasts and transforms Jewish ritual and folklore toward the world ahead.” — Olivia Baldwin, curator, Kniznick Gallery, Brandeis University
