TJ Special-Ed Department’s Barry Meriash holds a one-man photography showcase.
Photo by Mia Nogueira
Photographing the world has become a passion for TJ’s very own Berry Meriash, who has put together an impressive collection of his fantastic photographs.
Currently Meriash is holding a one-man photography show at the Broadmoor Community Church in Colorado Springs. After a long history of wedding & family photography, this is Meriash’s first one-man show. He photographs a variety of subjects and this showcase displays that. “I photograph people, special events, portraits and weddings,” said Meriash. “This allows me to expand on what I can photograph.”
Meriash has also helped out several TJ events by capturing special moments such as JROTC events, special education, and even senior portraits. ”I documented a lot of activities for the special ed. students last year; I took about a thousand photos of the students. I contributed them to Ms. Repensek for a special yearbook she is working on.”
Meriash grew up in a displaced persons camp (a refugee camp) in Munich, Germany, and began his first job as a photographer in the South Bronx and Newark, New Jersey. “It’s hard to get a photography job in New York. At my first job I photographed babies in South Bronx,” said Meriash.
Photography has been a passion that Meriash has followed for a long time and he has had several influences that inspired him to keep pursuing photography; including his mother, master wedding photographer Rocke Smith, and a Rabbi from the Warsaw ghetto. “Rocke Smith saw a spark of talent in me that others did not. He trained me for a year in exchange for a handshake promise to work for him the next two years. I also learned from him to work with my associates and clients on a win/win basis,” said Mariash. “Rabbi Kalonymous Kalman Shapira was the last Rabbi of the Warsaw ghetto. He inspired thousands of oppressed Jews to strengthen their faith and live with dignity in extreme deprivation. He taught them that the Nazis may have enslaved their bodies but they had their minds and their soul.”
For some, photography is just a hobby, something that people do for fun or just to capture a memorable moment that they can save forever. For Meriash photography is something that brings out a different side in him, and allows him to feel love for photography with every click. “When creating portraits, whether it’s child or beauty photography, I like empowering people to achieve their ideal selves while capturing the feel of that moment,” said Meriash. “At high energy events where emotions are high and there’s lots of activity, I enjoy performing and thinking quickly and operating on a very high level. My goal is to capture the spirit or soul of the moment.”
There were many motivations that inspired Meriash to create a showcase of his photographs, but the main one was to express the joy in life and joy’s power. “As we try to be aware of the sublime, we are surrounded by the mundane. Both states exist simultaneously. I strive to show that in the photo exhibit,” said Meriash. “I believe joy is one of the driving forces of the universe! The photography and the venue, Broadmoor Community Church in Colorado Springs, incorporate the power of joy in life.”
Meriash points out that people such as Louis Kahn (an architect) said that joy is the prime mover in the world. “If a painter were to paint a disaster, he would have to do so with joy.” Meriash expresses this through his photographs and communicates through his pictures that photography is something that he is passionate about.
Meriash has high ambitions and hopes for his photography, with an objective of reaching the masses. “My goal is to have a traveling photo exhibit that goes to cross-cultural and interdenominational venues. I would like for people to see a little deeper, past the cover of the book. Sometimes great beauty or great strangeness hinders people from seeing deeper qualities.”
Below are some of Berry Meriash pictures (Click on the picture to see it in a larger view):
