obits
Photojournalist Sharon Wohlmuth Dies at 75
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
O n their way to Minot, North
Dakota, to interview and photo-
graph subjects for their photo essay book
“Sisters” — which later spent 63 weeks
on The New York Times Best Sellers list
— photographer Sharon Wohlmuth and
essayist Carol Saline were caught in a
snowstorm. The two had no boots or coats and lost
their way while headed to their destina-
tion. All of a sudden, Wohlmuth insisted
on pulling over the car. Despite Saline’s
confusion, she complied and, soon,
per Wohlmuth’s request, they began to
make snow angels in the freshly fallen
snow. “She was very big on ‘be here, now’,”
Saline said.

Wohlmuth died on Feb. 13 in her
Rittenhouse Square home. She was 75.

In addition to copublishing four addi-
tional photo essay books with Saline after
“Sisters,” Wohlmuth was a photojour-
nalist with The Philadelphia Inquirer for
Montefi ore
Cemetery Company
Since its founding, Montefi ore has honored
and kept the traditions of Judaism.

• Jewish owned & operated
• NO vaults or liners required
• Prudent fi nancial management
ensuring highest standard of care
Let Montefi ore Cemetery help you protect your loved ones
from overwhelming decisions and expenses.

And, as always, 0% Interest on all pre-arrangements.

ONTEFIORE C EMETERY C OMPANY
Serving the Jewish Community…Preserving Our Tradition
600 Church Road • Jenkintown, PA 19046 • 215-663-1250
www.montefi ore.us
Sharon Wohlmuth presents at the Old City Jewish Art Center as part of the
“Morning Meditations” exhibit.
Photo by Zalman Wircberg
more than 20 years and won a Pulitzer
Prize in 1980 for her work in the paper’s
coverage of the Three Mile Island nuclear
accident. Her photos, which spanned from
Brooklyn Lubavitcher life to Somali
refugee camps, attracted some of the
Old City Jewish Art Center’s largest
audiences while they were on display
in exhibits in 2009 and 2015, OCJAC
director Zalman Wircberg said.

Wohlmuth was an active member
of the Philadelphia Jewish community.

Both a member of Temple Beth Zion-
Beth Israel and Vilna Congregation,
Wohlmuth had “chutzpah” and was
“very, very proud of being Jewish”
recalled Rabbi Menachem Schmidt
of Vilna Congregation, a friend with
Wohlmuth for 40 years.

On Rosh Hashanah, Wohlmuth vol-
unteered to visit a local hospital with
Schmidt and blow the shofar for patients
to welcome the new year. In addition to
going room-to-room to visit patients,
Wohlmuth would greet doctors and
nurses in the hallway who “looked
Jewish” to blow the shofar for them, too.

“She just had a lot of class,” Schmidt
said. “She had a tremendous presence.”
Born in Bristol, Connecticut, on Sept.

25, 1946, Wohlmuth was the middle
child to older brother Gary Joslow and
younger sister Beth Josolowitz. Her
father was an avid photographer and
influenced her decision to pursue pho-
tography in school.

After a short stint at a travel agency,
where she met first husband Edward
Wohlmuth, Sharon Wohlmuth enrolled
in the Moore College of Art and Design
in 1972. For her thesis, she lived among
a Lubavitcher community in Crown
Heights, Brooklyn, for six months in
1974, photographing weddings and
scenes from the Yeshiva.

Her photography impressed Inquirer
photo editor Gary Haynes, who hired
her a few months after she received
her bachelor’s in photography. She was
among the first four women to be hired
as photographers for The Inquirer.

In 1994, Wohlmuth and Saline pub-
lished “Sisters” through Running Press,
a small publisher run by Wohlmuth’s
second husband Larry Teacher. The
book had a modest first printing of
20,000, but it skyrocketed in popularity
after it was featured on an episode of
“Oprah.” Companion books “Mothers
and Daughters” and “Best Friends” also
earned acclaim.

Wohlmuth was open about her ADD
diagnosis, and she hired organizers
to help sort through bits of paper,
receipts and knickknacks in her pock-
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 25