JERUSALEM (VINnews/Sandy Eller) – An organization dedicated to making Orthodox women’s voices heard has launched an online repository of stock photos featuring Jewish women and girls that are available for purchase.
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The Jewish Life Photo Bank, a project of Chochmat Nashim, went live two weeks ago. It currently has over 600 photographs in more than thirty different categories including birthdays, pregnancy, business, self-defense, Torah learning, music, sports and holidays. New photographs are being uploaded daily and visitors to the website are invited to submit requests for pictures they would like to see featured.
“There are people who want pictures of Orthodox women and girls and families,” Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll, co-founder and director of Chochmat Nashim, told VIN News. “This all started from a woman who was looking for pictures of Orthodox women and they didn’t exist.”
The Jewish Life Photo Bank held its first two photo shoots in Jerusalem, one in Talpiot and the other just outside the Old City. More than 200 volunteers, including men, women and children, turned out to take part in the project.
“We had two moms who came with kids and two full families who came to be photographed,” said Keats Jaskoll. “There were single older women who pitched in as grandmothers to kids they had never met before. It was fantastic seeing them light candles with them.”
According to Keats Jaskoll, the site is already receiving tremendous amounts of positive feedback and new photo shoots are already scheduled for Baltimore and Modi’in. Keats Jaskoll hopes that as the site grows, it will cover a wider range of women so that the entire Jewish community can see pictures of females who look just like them in the photo bank.
“I am hoping this will be a positive representation,” said Keats Jaskoll. “Our photo shoot tomorrow will include a black woman who converted because it is important to show the variety and beauty of orthodoxy as it exits. We hope to be able to represent more teens and tweens and people who are visibly disabled.”
Images can be downloaded from the photo bank for $5 each and a full-site, one year access pass is available for a limited time for $125. While the Times of Israel and the Jewish Chronicle have already signed up at the photo bank, Keats Jaskoll acknowledged that more right wing publications that don’t publish pictures of women aren’t likely to use its photographs.
“Even if Orthodox publications never use the photo bank, hopefully the rest of society will see that we are here and are productive members of society.”
Don’t all the negative commentators realize that these photos will be for use by the media much as Getty Images are used. The women certainly aren’t advertising themselves as no names are attached to the photos. The few images from this collection that I’ve seen show women dressed in accordance with halacha.
I don’t see they need, but I don’t see any harm in making these photos available. I’m not sure whether I would pose if asked but probably would on a good day.
“Chochmat Nashim Banta Beitah” not the World Wide Web. Good idea to read the entire verse 😉
All the credit. No kow-towing anymore to the Taliban fanatical Photoshopping women from Jewish circulation print media. Hatzlacha !
“hopefully the rest of society will see that we are here and are productive members of society.” This bother me. Why do we need to prove anything to the rest of society.
The way this started seems sort of odd.
We shouldn’t be ashamed of our כל כבודה בת מלך פנימה even if some make u feel as if its backdated. I belive this project shows weakness not strength
Whatever happened to הצנע לכת?
I’ve yet to see a response as to why are these pictures necessary and what purpose would they serve.
Bye-bye shidduch crisis.
“An organization dedicated to making Orthodox women’s voices HEARD has launched an online repository of stock PHOTOS featuring Jewish women and girls that are available for purchase.”
Just curious if the overall agenda of “Chochmat” Nashim is to cover the 5 senses (obviously, Common Sense has already been negated).
Making pictures of frum ladies available to the general public on a grand scale is so completely unnecessary that it boggles the mind. It’s NOT conducive to anything good for a Bus Yisroel. For shame.
What kind of tableclothes ? Friday night soup ? ( btw- you forgot to send your daughter’s full length pic.Thanks. )
$5 for a photo is a lot… but I support the endeavor in principle 100%
I’m sure this is what is going to make Hashem real happy. Really walking in the footsteps of Sarah and Rivkah here ladies.
Somebody must to tell this Mr Nashim guy his project is a chilul hashem. And not no piety one neither.
Kol kevuda bas melech penima.
It’s too bad they don’t believe in Chazal.
I know the woman in the picture. I don’t think permission was given. Daughter of a high profile politician.
If they are advertising themselves then they are not Orthodox anymore.