I was lucky enough to spend the entire day on Friday documenting the daily life of Rabbi Hanoka. The most powerful moment of the day was visiting a boy in his 3rd stage of cancer at City of Hope. Rabbi Hanoka was called to give the boy his blessing before Shabbat and place tefillin on his arm and head. Tefillin, a parchment scroll containing verses from the Torah, is worn by observant Jews on a daily basis during morning prayer. It is meant to serve as reminder of God’s intervention in freeing the Jews from Egypt and to bind Jews closer to God.

I photographed my first Orthodox Bar Mitzvah party over the weekend. It was definitely a fun and wild experience.

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Saw John Lasseter get his star on the walk of fame! He’s always been a huge inspiration of mine. 

For a road trip photography assignment, I made the trek out to Oxnard beach to spend the day with and photograph my surfer friend Kyle. I grabbed some shots of him early in the afternoon then took some landscape shots as the sun set. 

Pacific Jewish Center - The Shul on the Beach

Chabad of Pasadena

Orthodox Jewish Project

I plan on continuing my documentary series of Orthodox Jews in the Los Angeles area that I began over a year ago. Having been raised in a reform Jewish family, I never knew much about the Orthodox culture or lifestyle. Like many people, my only encounter with the Orthodox Jewish community was driving in West Los Angeles, seeing them walk on the street to the synagogue. I decided to explore their culture by going inside their synagogues and homes to document their customs, family life and traditions.

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