In late March, a friend inquired if I would be interested in photographing an antique printing press located in Menlo Park. The press was utilized in Brooklyn, New York, from the 1920s to the 1960s to print posters for the Brooklyn Jewish community. Typically, the posters was printed in equal parts in English and Yiddish. The press belonged to the Firschein family, and upon the passing of Mr. Firschein in the 1960s, his son Oscar transported the press and all the printing equipment from Brooklyn to California. Oscar never used the press and it remained in his residence for 55 years until his passing earlier this year. Upon initial inspection of the press, I was immediately captivated by it, as I, too, hail from Brooklyn and Yiddish was the language of my parents. The press had been donated to the Yiddish Book Center, and moving day was in two weeks. Nevertheless, I successfully scheduled three sessions to capture the press and its associated equipment.

The inaugural session was dedicated to photographing the press itself. This imposing one-ton piece, which was immobile, was positioned in a corner of the room, thereby restricting the available viewpoints. The type cabinet, situated in another corner, fortunately permitted the removal of individual cases. The room was dimly lit, necessitating the use of several small strobes for the majority of the exposures. For the second session, printed copies of Firschein posters served as backgrounds for the wooden hand-carved Yiddish type. The third session focused on light painting the press and creating still life images of the type and printing equipment.