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October 29, 1999/19 Cheshvan 5760, Vol. 52, No.9
Essence of China captured by local photographer
TAMI BICKLEY
Staff Writer
Through the lens of her camera, photographer Linda Enger captures images that can be viewed and used as educational tools for years to come. So far, she has documented the essence of a number of countries, including Israel, Japan and the United States.
Last month, Enger traveled to China through a nonprofit program called "Through Each Other's Eyes," of which she has been a member since its inception in 1986. The photographic, educational and cultural exchange program enables two local photographers each year to travel to a foreign country to take pictures that portray the country's people and culture. Then two photographers from that foreign country travel to the United States to take photographs.
Now that Enger has returned from her journey, she will welcome two Chinese photographers in November. In February, Phoenix City Hall will display 40 photographs from the American photographers and 40 from the Chinese photographers in an exhibit during Chinese Cultural Week, including the two-day annual Chinese Cultural and Cuisine Fair.
Enger, who lives in Phoenix, flew to Beijing, China, with another local photographer, Errol Zimmerman. Michael Cherney, vice chairman of the Phoenix Sister Cities Program, accompanied the photographers as their interpreter. Enger and Zimmerman were each supplied with 100 rolls of film from Kodak.
They arrived in Beijing on Kol Nidre (Yom Kippur Eve), and Enger, who is Jewish, headed straight to Kehillat Beijing, the city's only Jewish community and 20-year-old synagogue, which rents space in a facility called the Capital Club. There, Jews of diverse ethnic backgrounds - some of whom live in Beijing, others who are business travelers or tourists - pray on High Holidays and Shabbat. None of the congregants or attendees are Chinese, says Enger.
"For visitors, it can really make the trip more full," Enger says. "There are so many people who come to Beijing, and they'll be more inspired by Judaism there than in any other place. I can understand that. It's so unique."
Kehillat Beijing is run by laypeople and has no rabbi. Enger says it's nearly impossible to tabulate how many families are involved with the congregation because so many who become involved are in the country for such a short period.
Enger stayed in Beijing with a Jewish American family that belongs to Kehillat Beijing. The family - Roberta Lipson; her husband, Ted Plafker; and their three sons, Daniel, Benjamin and Jonathon - live and own a business in the Hutong of the Chao Yang District of Beijing.
The Hutong, Enger explains, is an older-style, urban community. Its houses are designed so that one must go outdoors to get to different parts of the home. And many Hutong residents do not have running water. The Chinese government is slowly tearing Hutong buildings down, to replace them with more modern, skyscraper-type apartment buildings, she says.
On Yom Kippur, Enger returned to services at Kehillat Bejing, only this time with the intention of working rather than praying. She says she wanted to capture the beauty of Yom Kippur and such a diverse place of worship. Her efforts were met with hostility, however.
"Some people were upset to see me there, so I moved to the back (of the room)," she recalls. "I got a few dirty looks, and some visitors were saying that it's not kosher to photograph with the Torah open."
Born in St. Louis, Enger grew up in a Conservative family. Her parents owned a portrait studio, which is how Enger discovered her love of photography.
"They didn't care how much film I used, so I photographed all the time," she says. She graduated from Southern Illinois University in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in fine arts. Her emphasis was on commercial photography, but after college, her career evolved into art photography.
In 1980, Enger moved to Arizona, where she worked as both an art photographer and waitress to make ends meet, she says.
Under a commission with the Phoenix Arts Commission, she spent a year photographing South Mountain Village for the South Mountain Family Services Center. That work will be exhibited in February 2000, the same month her China photographs will be displayed.
Her affinity for "warm, fuzzy, people-type images" helped her focus on aspects of China relating to its people, she says. For example, she captured the excitement of the Jia Zhou Hotel Tea House in Chengdu, where actors in face paint perform on a small stage. Through pictures, Enger also relayed the intensity of craftspeople in Chengdu, a city that's known for its arts and crafts. And in an elementary school in Chengdu, Enger caught the look of interest on students' faces as they were taught by Zimmerman how a Kodak digital camera works.
"It doesn't really matter where I am shooting. I just love the interaction so much," Enger says. "I feel rested and spiritually lifted when I shoot."
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