John is a London-based photographer. His book Jew, a four-year project capturing Jews all over the world, was published to international acclaim in November 2019.

‘The word “Jew” often gets used as an insult, so there might be a tendency to shy away from (my project). I am quite rebellious, so the more people said, “you can’t do that”, the more I said, “I am doing that.”’

‘For me the most important thing is the portrait, (and intrinsically) how emotionally tied you are, as the viewer, when you look at this portrait. (As a photographer) if I have had a really engaging conversation with a subject, the portrait might reflect that. If I have only spoken to the person for two minutes, that comes across as well, but there are no rules.’

‘Having said that, what you might take away from the project is that Jews come in all shapes, sizes, all colours and ethnicities. If you are of the mindset that Jews all look and sound one way, I suggest you look at my book.’

‘I’m not in a “Cartier-Bresson” game, I’m not into “capturing the moment”, I am proud of what I have achieved; I am proud of the book; I love photography.’