Photographer Gregory Michenaud is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this social documentary photography. From his ongoing project ‘Yibbum‘. To see Gregory’s portfolio click on any image.
The story of a grand-son of a “Yibbum child” – it means of a child coming from Jewish tradition of levirate marriage – in the search of his identity. The journey will bring us inside religion, family values and history till a certain sense of attachment to the land – all aspects that could help to define what it could mean to be Jewish.
[Yibbum (hebrew word for levirate marriage) is a type of marriage which obliges the oldest surviving brother of a man who dies childless to marry the widow of his childless deceased brother, with the firstborn child being treated as that of the deceased brother.]
The first part of this on-going project, is concentrated on the religious aspect—the main connotation of the Jewish identity that comes to mind. As I continue working on Yibbum, religion will become a bridge to go deeper inside the daily life of a Jewish family in Israel as well as Israel itself.
We all need roots, identity. Yibbum is just one particular, individual example, an incitation to make viewers wonder what defines them, what constitutes their own identities. By discovering ourselves, we have a greater chance to understand others and avoid stereotypes and prejudices.
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By Gregory Michenaud
