Hollywood icons, including Cindy Crawford, Jennifer Garner, and David Schwimmer, have participated in a touching awareness campaign by posing for portraits with Holocaust survivors in an effort to educate people about the darkest period in history.
Photographer Bryce Thompson, who has shot for prestigious fashion magazines such as Elle, L'Officiel, and Glamour, initiated the project titled "Borrowed Spotlight," featuring intimate portraits of celebrities alongside Holocaust survivors. The project will launch at the Detour Gallery in New York on April 22, coinciding with Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day.
In addition to Crawford, Garner, and Schwimmer, other stars who joined the project include Billy Porter, George Stephanopoulos, Nicola Peltz, Barbara Corcoran, Scooter Braun, Sheryl Sandberg, Chelsea Handler, Julius Erving, Josh Peck, and several others.
"Step Up" star Jenna Dewan was paired with Risa Igelfeld, who witnessed the destruction caused by the Nazis when they invaded Vienna, Austria, in 1938. Igelfeld revealed that she survived because a soldier warned her about a Nazi plan to attack her. She escaped to England with the help of a former professor who had fled earlier and assisted her in obtaining a visa.
"This is truly an amazing and humbling opportunity to be part of such an incredible moment honoring the resilience and courage of these amazing true survivors. Meeting and listening to Risa's story was a life-changing event for me," Dewan told Page Six. "The most fun part was dancing together and hearing Risa sing," Dewan added. "The biggest challenge was hearing firsthand about the real horrors of our history that Risa went through during the Holocaust."
The exhibition will showcase portraits, survivor testimonies, and interactive elements designed to educate the public about the Holocaust. Images from the exhibition will be sold at auction, along with a photography book featuring the pictures. All proceeds will benefit "Self Help," an organization that provides services and assistance to Holocaust survivors living in New York, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Cindy Crawford also met with Nova survivors in Los Angeles, commenting on "the power of human hearts and minds."
