On Friday, March 16, the Jewish History Museum opened a new, original, temporary exhibition, “Subtle Apertures: Leo Goldschmidt’s Early Photographic Record of the Sonoran Borderlands.” Images and information for the exhibition are drawn from the collections of the Jewish History Museum and the Bloom Jewish Southwest Archives at the University of Arizona Special Collections.
Goldschmidt was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1852 and arrived in Tucson in 1878. “Subtle Apertures” presents his photographs that capture Tucson and the surrounding areas as well as his social circle between 1885 and 1905. Goldschmidt was the brother of Eva Mansfeld, who as a member of the Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society was instrumental in the construction of the first synagogue in the Arizona Territory. The building was the first home of Temple Emanu-El and is now the flagship of the Jewish History Museum where this exhibition is on display.
Goldschmidt’s photographs capture a particular moment in the settlement of Southern Arizona and the development of photography as a public and artistic practice.
The exhibition is open to the public through May 31. The Jewish History Museum’s public hours are Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, 1-5 p.m., and Friday, noon-3 p.m. For more information, visit jewishhistorymuseum.org.
