Cooking Chronicles

The Cooking Chronicles is an ongoing photography project exploring the intersection of identity and food through the lens of Eastern European Jewish cuisine. The work centers on iconic Jewish dishes commonly found in New York, such as challah, latkes, and matzo ball soup– using food as both subject and symbol to examine cultural inheritance and personal history.

The project was inspired by a visit to my father’s family—Russian Jews living in St. Petersburg—where, despite a language barrier, we bonded at the kitchen table while sharing matzo ball soup. That experience made me realize how food can serve as a bridge across borders, generations and cultural gaps. "The Cooking Chronicles" is both a personal exploration and a broader reflection on how culinary practices carry identity, connect us to our roots, and evolve.

Influenced by both conceptual art and documentary photography, I make my images through a combination of self-portraiture and studio still lives. In recent color work I use grids to juxtapose Jewish foods I buy locally with those I prepare myself. In earlier black and white images, I photograph myself preparing various foods with a vintage Hasselblad camera and a LEAF digital back, exploring the performative nature of cooking as a cultural expression. The goal is to honor my secular Jewish heritage and contribute positive, contemporary representations of Jewish culture. Above: Self-Portrait Cooking Jewish Foods, Archival Pigment Prints from, 1998-ongoing, Edition 10+2AP.