Elinor Carucci | Hannah Altman

Koffler Arts is excited to welcome photographers Elinor Carucci and Hannah Altman to our gallery for an exhibition (May 29 – August 17), curated by Toronto-based artist Barbara Astman. The exhibition highlights the unique dynamic that exists between each artist’s practice and their different life stages, exploring life from a Jewish feminist perspective, including womanhood, rituals, family, and the human condition.

Carucci’s works at Koffler Arts are a selection from Midlife (2011-2019), a photographic series and corresponding book (The Monacelli Press, 2019) never previously exhibited in its present format. This body of work explores the middle stage of life from a highly personal, female perspective. It delves into themes of the body, health, relationships and, overall, brings attention to the challenges of this period in a woman’s life. “In this series, I aim to address the global aspects of middle age, drawing from the deepest and most intimate places in me, a middle-aged woman myself,” says Carucci.

Altman’s work explores themes of ritual and lineage, memory and storytelling, incorporating aspects of Jewish culture. The works at Koffler Arts are from her most recent series, We Will Return To You, with a corresponding book (Saint Lucy Books, 2025). As Altman describes, “From mouth to ear to pen to performance, Jewish myths evolve across the diaspora, braiding themselves into past and future.”

As Astman writes, she, Carucci, and Altman “represent collectively three generations of image-makers who explore life from a feminist perspective. It has been an honour and pleasure to ‘dig deeper’ – to quote Carucci from an interview with Altman – into the work and careers of these two very exciting artists who bring a highly personal Jewish approach to their photographic works.”