Celebrating Life Through Photography
Clifford Lester is a professor of photography at Cypress College and a student of the Jewish experience. Inspired by his mother, Ursula Lowenbach Foster, a Holocaust survivor, Clifford has followed in her footsteps of embracing life. To honor her brother, Ernest, who was killed in Auschwitz, Ursula showed everyone around her that life was something to be grateful for, something to celebrate.
Today, thirteen years after her passing, Clifford finds himself much closer to his Jewish roots, and much more appreciative of his life. Grateful for his family, his friends, and the opportunity to share photographic adventures with students, it is through the artistic avenues of the photographic lens, that Clifford shares his perspective on life. Even in his teen years, Clifford began to notice the beauty in things through the viewfinder of his camera that other people would just walk by. He knew he had to bring this beauty and light into the lives of others.
At the present time, after a career of 27 years as a studio advertising photographer, and currently enjoying his 17th year of teaching at Cypress College, Clifford has been committed to perhaps his most meaningful project, documenting Holocaust Survivors.
Clifford says that the goal of these images is to “capture the Faith and courage of those who survived, and to honor the memory of those loved ones lost, so the memory and lessons of the Holocaust will never be forgotten.”
This incredible group, the survivors of the Holocaust, have left a legacy for the generations that follow. A legacy of loving, caring for others, and giving purpose to their lives. Many are people of Faith, guided by an intense love of Torah and G-d, all are moved to celebrate their given days of life.
We pray that through these images and the lives they have lived, that their spirit will forever live on and bless those who follow.