Sun blessing festival

• Prize
• Photographer
  Robert Hooman, United States
• Date of Photograph
  online
• Website
  http://www.RobertHooman.com

Once every 28 years, Orthodox jews celebrate the Sun Blessing Festival, in which they believe the sun returns to its original position in the sky as when the earth was created.

This orthodox community is tucked away in a corner of Williamsburg brooklyn, a gentrifying and transient neighborhood that claims one of NYCâ??s most hip, diverse and trendy areas. Despite being outcasts in this neighborhood, the sun Blessing festival illustrates tightly kept traditions of the orthodox Hasidic community, in spirit, culture and appearance.

• Biography
  New York Photographer Robert Hooman was born in Iran and raised in California. After living in Tehran as a teenager, he returned to the states to graduate from NYU's Tisch school of arts with a BFA in Film Production. Visual communication and story-telling are the driving force behind his work. His hope is to tell important and impactful stories and contribute to the understanding and compassion between peoples of different nationalities, beliefs, cultures and races. His professional photography career began in 2008, after a solo show at Riot Manhattan, and quickly escalated after a series of projects and awards. In 2009 he placed third in the Editorial category plus three other honorable mentions for his photo essays from the prestigious International Photography Awards.