The pictures belong on the covers of magazines. They are black and white, elegant against a clean studio backdrop. They feature Josh Peck, Jennifer Garner, George Stephanopoulos, Wolf Blitzer, Cindy Crawford, Chelsea Handler, Sheryl Sandberg and David Schwimmer among other iconic names. The photographer, South African Bryce Thompson, is known for his advertising photography, and his work is regularly featured in some of the best fashion publications, from Elle to Glamour.
Yet the focus of these specific photos isn’t any of the huge celebrities featured, nor the fashion magazines they could be printed in. Rather, theirs is a “Borrowed Spotlight,” reflecting the name of the book the pictures are featured in. Their star power is there to shine a light on the stories of the men and women they are photographed with: Holocaust survivors from all across Europe, from Greece to Poland.
“Borrowed Spotlight” has been Thompson’s passion project for years. This week, for Yom Hashoah, Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, it can be viewed at New York’s Detour Gallery. Images from the project can also be seen on billboards across the city, pasted on green sidewalk sheds and shinning at pedestrians from digital billboards. They’re there to make people ask, who are these people we don’t know, posing with these prominent figures, and hopefully encourage them to look up the survivors’ incredible stories of survival.
The “Borrowed Spotlight” art book is also available on the project’s website for $360. American model Crawford wrote the book’s foreword; in it, she shares how important Jewish identity is in her life and how she and her Jewish husband, Rande Gerber, decided to raise their two kids with Judaism and Christianity. “I cherished learning to make my mother-in-law’s brisket for Passover, and I took pride in preparing the seder plate just right. I even called my friend Ruthie in Israel to ensure I was honoring the traditions correctly,” Crawford writes in the foreword. “Judaism is so rich in symbolism — everything has meaning, from the food to the way you sit at certain meals. Recently, I learned about eating sufganiyot for Hanukkah (basically donuts — and so delicious!).”
Actor and comedian Josh Peck, who played a rabbi in the Netflix adaptation of “13: The Musical,” met with Budapest-born Eva Nathanson. “My granddaughter knows who you are, I didn’t know who you are,” she told the “Drake & Josh” star, who replied that he prefers it that way. Nathanson survived an execution of Jews who were thrown into the Danube by the Nazis when her mother bartered for her and her sister’s release.
Movie and TV star Jennifer Garner met with Gabriella Karin from Bratislava. A brave lawyer sheletered her and her family and protected them from the Nazi occupation. Karin said her life before the Holocaust was not so different from modern American life right now and that she could never imagine the horrors that were going to befall her Jewish community.
“How lucky am I to get to share your story,” Garner tells Karin in a video of their encounter.
“I was lucky enough to spend time with, and help to amplify the story of, the beautiful Risa Igelfeld,” Jenna Dewan wrote of her “Borrowed Spotlight” shoot. She shared a photo on social media in which she is warmly embraces Igelfeld as she sits on a plush armchair, cries, laughs and dances with the older woman.
“Risa escaped horrific sexual violence from the Nazis who were rounding up local Jewish girls like her,” she continued in her caption. “Although she lost so much, she exudes positivity and her message is all love. ‘I never allow negative thoughts to enter my brain,’ she said. If only we could all embrace Risa’s spirit – even at 107, sharing a moment and dancing with her was a moment I will forever cherish.”
Comedian Chelsea Handler shared her encounter with survivor Andrew Stern who was “born in a basement in the Jewish ghetto of Budapest, Hungary – between two bombing raids. Despite everything he and his family endured, his optimism is infectious.” Chelsea shared details about Stern on social media, along with how inspired she is by him: “There’s something incredibly powerful about a man who has faced unimaginable horrors and still chooses joy,” she wrote.”And beyond making people laugh, I’ve always been vocal about my Jewish identity and family history.”
Jewish music producer Scooter Braun, himself the grandson of survivors, wrote about his experience with the project on Instagram, too. “This hero of mine, Joseph Alexander, is 103 years young, and is a Holocaust survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto, Auschwitz, Dachau and 10 other camps,” he shared. “His experience resonates through my own family history – my grandmother survived Auschwitz at 15 years old and my grandfather Joseph Braun likely met this Joseph as they both survived the camp Dachau. Though they all had every excuse to be filled with hate and resentment for the rest of their lives, they dedicated themselves to rebuilding and creating new loving families.”
Famed TV host and commentator George Stephanopoulos got to meet survivor Lena Goren. Like his family, she hails from Greece, where her Jewish community in Salonica was almost completely decimated by the Nazis. Lena and her family, along with 83 others, escaped the town in the dead of night, hiding in a monastery in the mountains of Tzouma in difficult conditions, taking with them a Torah scroll from their synagogue for protection. After surviving in hiding, Lena discovered that the majority of her family was killed in concentration camps.
Real estate maven Barbara Corcoran reflected on her experience meeting with survivor Tova Friedman: “At just 6 years old in 1944, Tova was sent to a malfunctioning gas chamber in Auschwitz and miraculously survived. She has since dedicated her life to educating others through her writing and lectures. Tova’s story is an inspiring lesson in resilience and hope, and I’m so glad to have met her.”
Survivor Bella Rosenberg and actor Billy Porter look impossibly glamorous together in their photoshoot. The Emmy and Tony award-winning star shared his reflection of the experience on social media, writing that Bella’s story “is a powerful reminder of what can happen when hate goes unchecked and why we must remain vigilant in protecting the most vulnerable in our society. Bella is a true hero — one of only 140 Jews to survive the Holocaust from her town of Krylow, Poland, where 20,000 once lived. She has seen firsthand how hatred, when ignored or normalized, can spiral into violence and devastation.”
“People forget what happened such a short time ago,” he recalled her telling him, “but Bella’s resilience is unstoppable. After arriving in America, she took a job in a doll factory, earning just 75 cents an hour. ‘I was daring enough to say that I’ll take any work, make a living, and never complain — because Hitler didn’t kill me. Neither will this.’ Bella’s story is more than history — it’s a warning. When hatred festers, it threatens us all. Sharing her story is an act of resistance, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to do so.”
New analysis shows that half of today’s living survivors will be dead in the next six years. Sharing the stories of Bella and the rest of the survivors has never been more important. And there’s such beauty in sharing them in the way Thompson does, through these intimate connections with faces we know so well; everyone should spend some time with this project.
