My photographic practice focuses on the primal riddles that have challenged me for years: the intertwining of existence and transience, memory and forgetfulness, and the delicate tension between presence and absence.
I view my works as mediators that shape the fragile encounter between myself and the site (Makom).
I photograph like a photojournalist arriving at an event centuries or millennia late. My goal is to document that which is no longer there, yet remains etched in the site through the persistent presence of culture, history, and memory.
This process is, at its core, a cultural and existential journey to define myself within place and time.
I work exclusively in large format and black-and-white photography. The heavy camera and slow discipline of the large format dictate a meditative pace, revealing the intricate relationships between stone, tree, and sky.
Through this minimalistic form, I study the language of the site and my place within it.
Biographical Notes
Born in Israel, 1971
1995-1999 - Department of Photography, Camera Obscura School of Art, Tel Aviv
Since 2005 - Head of the Department of Photography, Camera Obscura School of Art, Tel Aviv
2009-2014 - B.A. in Humanities, Department of History, Philosophy, and Judaic Studies, The Open University of Israel
2011 - Jury member, EMET Prize for Science, Art and Culture (first award in the field of photography)
- Co-curator (with arch. Rivka Guttman) of the exhibition "Depth of Field: Photographic Architecture," The Architect's House Gallery, Jaffa (cat.)
- Co-Organiser (with archaeologists Michael Jasmin, Ph.D., and Yifat Thareani, Ph.D.) of the Science-Art Workshop "Visualizing the Negev – A Desert Between Documents and Reality:Dialogue Between Humanities (Archaeology, Anthropology, Visual Culture) and Visual Arts,"
The Centre de Recherche Français de Jerusalem
Solo Exhibitions
2001 - Opal Gallery, Tel Aviv; curator: Stéphanie Benzaquen (cat.)
2005 - "Black Light," Dear Noga Art Window, Jaffa; curator: Moran Shoub
2011 - "B&W Forest," Artists House, Tel Aviv
2012 - "B&W Forest: Two Journeys to Treblinka," The Ghetto Fighters' House –
Itzhak Katzenelson Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum, Kibbutz Lohamei Hageta'ot, Israel (cat.) ; Exhibition proposed by: Moshe Ninio, Gallery curator: Evelin Akherman
2018 - "Still-Life Fleeting," Hadassah Academic College Jerusalem, Israel; curator: Nimrod Bar-Am
Selected Group Exhibitions
1998 - "Open House," Beit Hagefen – Arab-Jewish Cultural Center, Haifa; curator: Hana Kofler (cat.)
1999 - "White Nights," as part of "Art Focus 3: International Biennial of Contemporary Art," Teddy Stadium, Jerusalem; curator: Idit Porat (cat.)
2002 - "Local Time 5," Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Cinematheques; curator: Elyasaf Kowner
2003 - "Hereafter: Tel Aviv Video," CAC – Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania; curator: Stéphanie Benzaquen
2004 - "Water, is Taught by Thirst," Gallery Noass, Riga, Latvia; curator: Stéphanie Benzaquen
2005 - "On the Banks of the Yarkon: The Yarkon River in Israeli Art," Tel Aviv Museum of Art; curator: Varda Steinlauf (cat.)
- "Power," Turbine Hall, Reading Power Station Compound, Tel Aviv; curator: Doron Rabina
2006-2007 - "The Neighbor Next Door," Nizio Gallery, Warsaw, Galeria Wschodnia, Łódż, Auschwitz Jewish Center (Centrum Żydowskie), Oświęcim, and other venues in Poland; curator: Yifat Laist
2007 - "Moods and Modes in Israeli Photography: Works from the Collection, Gift of Leon and Michaela Constantiner," Tel Aviv Museum of Art; curator: Nili Goren (cat.)
2009 - "2009 Tel Aviv Time," Tel Aviv Museum of Art; curator: Nili Goren (cat.)
2011 - "Making Room: Contemporary Israeli Photography," Tel Aviv Museum of Art; curator: Nili Goren (cat.)
Collections
Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Leon and Michaela Constantiner Collection
Private collections