Dozens of religiously observant Jewish women and their families participated in a series of photoshoots in the US and Israel this week as part of a novel initiative to provide media and organizations with positive images of Orthodox life.
The idea for the Jewish Life Photo Bank, launched by Chochmat Nashim (Women's Wisdom), an Israeli organization that promotes women's rights in the Orthodox Jewish community, was sparked by censorship and erasure of female faces in many haredi publications.
Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll, an activist who is leading the project, noted that this extreme practice causes harm not only to women, but to society as a whole.
"It harms women’s health, financial standing and regard for women in policies within Jewish life," she said. "Women being excluded from the conversation and policy making means that women’s needs are not addressed, and that women’s potential contributions towards a better Jewish society are lost. The ramifications of this phenomenon range from financial to fatal. We have decided to fight back by giving a positive response from within the religious community."
The photo bank will be made up of qualitative, representative stock images of observant women and families (think of it as a Jewish women’s iStock or pixabay), and will be stored on a site created by the organization. Photos will be available via paid download or subscription to Jewish organizations, businesses, media outlets and advertisers. Participants in the project will receive a free subscription, the organization said.