Who we are...

Hi, I'm Yuliya. I am a documentary and lifestyle photographer. Back in the day, when I was helping my father develop film under the red light and watched photographs come to life, I knew I was "in" and that there is no way out. Eventually I would become a photographer. I took some pretty sizeable detours through mathematics and computer science, but ultimately ended right where I wanted to be and I couldn't be happier.

For the last two years I've been working on the Speak Memory Project trying to hear and preserve memories and stories of my grandparents' generation. My own grandfather, Ilya Shabadash, passed away and I quickly realized how little of his experiences I've captured and preserved for my own children. 

I  currently live in New York City and work as a professional photographer. My work can be found at: http://www.yuliyalevit.com/

Hi, my name is Marina. I grew up and went to school in Moscow, in what was then the Soviet Union. In college, I studied Jewish Literature and Eastern European Jewish folklore.

The Speak Memory project resonated with me in a powerful way when I heard about it in 2013 and I instantly jumped on-board. This, capturing the memories and experiences of the passing generations has been something I was interested in all along.

Through this project I want to bring attention to people living in the aftermath of war and oppression. I want to preserve their memories for the generations to come, to help us avoid hardships of their time. I believe that memory's images, if they are not captured and fixed in words and pictures, are erased. Unless we put an effort into capturing them, speaking about them, we inevitably lose them little by little.

I currently live in the most amazing city of San Francisco with my daughter, husband, and two cats.

My work can be found at http://www.waitingforthecake.com