Today we’re talking with Aaric Eisenstein, an Austin based author and photographer who just released a new book that combines bird photography with Jewish wisdom, The Avian Rebbe Takes Flight
Editor: Aaric, can you tell me about this book?
Aaric: The Avian Rebbe teaches Jewish wisdom seen in the beauty of birds. This book is a collection of 52 photographs taken in Central Texas together with a “drash” on each one. A drash is a short teaching on Torah. The premise is that Godly beauty can be found by looking at the world with a conscious lens.
Editor: That’s inspiring. One of the things I like about photography is that it forces you to pay conscious attention. What inspired you to write this book?
Aaric: When Covid hit – hard – all our in-door spaces were either closed or dangerous. For my own mental health, I started spending lots of time in the parks, learning how to use my newly-bought camera and giving my mind a break from the horrors. I started to share these little “Avian Therapy” jottings on Facebook, and they began to resonate with people. Everyone needed some light in their lives at that point. Over time, I became more intentional and directed in my photography and writing, trying to find ways to push back against the darkness around us. The book is a collection of these efforts intended to offer something meaningful – and beautiful – to contemplate each week. The birds, and the rising sun, and the beauty of the parks gave me the courage to remember that even the darkness of Covid will end, and better, brighter days will come.
Editor: An interesting process. Did sharing over social media help you, forgive the pun, focus on and direct your photography and writing?
Aaric: Social media certainly has been my principal distribution channel until now. I don’t know if it helped shape the direction of what I offer – mostly because I’m not smart enough about the analytics to use it. That said, I’ve been extremely intrigued to see the simple engagement metrics for one post versus another. Hawks, for example, are a big hit with people. Everyone seems to like hawks!
Editor: I know I do. Tell me a bit about the process of pulling the book together. A lot of people want to create a book. Most of us don’t succeed.
Aaric: I was fortunate – very fortunate – in this process. I first did a “contest” on 99Designs for the book cover design. Designers created several dozen possibilities, which I whittled down and then asked for input from friends/family. Fortunately, there was an overwhelming favorite, and that’s the one that I’ve used. I will confess it is NOT the cover I was expecting to win! That experience was so good that I did the same thing in hiring an Interior designer for the actual book pages. She took my text and photos and put it all into a format that meets Amazon’s required specifications for softcover, hardcover, and Kindle editions. For the substance of the book, I had the photos/drashot I’d put together over the prior year. I added my own Introduction and Afterword. And the most gratifying part of all is the Foreword from my rabbi, Neil Blumofe and the blurbs I received from some extremely authoritative early readers – clerics, scholars, ornithologists, etc. Their contributions were humbling and encouraging.
From there, everything was sent to Amazon’s self-publishing site. It’s remarkably easy to use when pros have put together all the content to upload. Amazon can do proof copies for review, and then the book editions are ready to go live for purchase. I also sell signed/inscribed copies through www.AvianRebbe.com. Being a bookseller is much tougher than being an author!
Editor; What was the best money that you spent on this project?
Aaric: When I bought my camera and lens, I was concerned that I might not enjoy photography, so I hedged. I bought a good lens but not the best one. After just a few weeks, realizing how valuable these hours and hours taking photos was going to be, I upgraded my lens to the best one available for my camera. That was money extremely well-spent.
Editor: I think the discipline of creating content on a regular basis contributes significantly to your success. As the saying goes “You are what you do.” How did you hold yourself accountable to create regularly?
Aaric: Jewish tradition teaches that the Torah should be read every Mon, Thur, and Sat. The idea is that Torah is equated to water, and just like we die physically if we go more than three days without water, we die spiritually if we don’t read Torah that often. So I publish a photo/drash each Mon and Thur. Saturday of course, is Shabbat, when it would be prohibited. I see these as offerings to God and my community. It is definitely a substantial amount of work, but these offerings enhance my life. It makes the work into a joy.
Editor: A wonderful way to think about it. That is one of the things that makes this book unique–a combination of faith and nature expressed through writing and photography. One of the other astonishing things is that you picked up photography relatively recently. Photographers take photos for years but don’t create a project. It shows the power of purpose in creating and finishing a project.
Aaric: “Purpose” is exactly right. When I first started taking pictures, I snapped every bird I saw – no matter how bad the conditions or the photo. I just wanted to “capture” an image. I suppose too there was a certain element of wanting to document what I’d seen during that morning’s outing. But everything changed when I started taking photos with the intention of thinking and writing about them. In ancient days, animal sacrifices had to be “without blemish.” Only the finest. So now I aim to take photos only when I know that they’ll be of sufficient quality. The light, the pose, the background all have to be of a higher standard. I certainly take blemished photos too, but those end up on the cutting room floor. As you say, knowing the end goal of the project is extremely powerful in helping shape how I approach the creation.
Editor: Aaric, where can people buy your book?
Aaric: I’m selling signed/inscribed copies at www.AvianRebbe.com. Regular copies are available on Amazon. There will also be in-person signing events, and I’ll have details posted on my website.
Editor: Thank you, anything else you would like our readers to know?
Aaric: Thank you for this opportunity. I would simply remind people that they can find the same beauty and inspiration I have in their own art and in their own “parks.” It’s always there; for us, it is simply a function of looking with the right intention. Be Grounded. Fly High.
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