Berlin-based photo artist and curator Benyamin Reich counts himself among the "third generation", the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of mostly German Jews who were murdered by German fascists in concentration camps or forced into exile. Reich grew up mainly in Jerusalem and comes from an ultra-Orthodox family - his father is a rabbi. The self-confessed gay artist studied at the Musrara School of Photography in Jerusalem in 1992/93 and from 1998 at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. After further studies in Israel, he has lived and worked in Berlin since 2009.
His photographic work deals with the complex intersections between Jewish identity, sexuality and belonging in Berlin. in 2026, Berliner Secession Verlag published the book Jerusalem Berlin, a volume of analogue photographs with text contributions by the writer Simon Strauss and the curator of PURPLE PATH Alexander Ochs.
The book will be presented in the Mittweida City Library, photographic works by the artist will be shown and there will be an artist talk between Benyamin Reich and Alexander Ochs. Reich is no stranger to Mittweida: The "Altes Erbgericht" art gallery dedicated a solo exhibition to him in 2022, and in 2025 he was involved in the Mittweida Sukkot as a curator, among other things.
An event organised by the city of Mittweida in cooperation with Friends of the Purple Path e.V. and with the kind support of Secession Verlag Berlin.