Foto Friday – Discovering Acco with Elena Comens

May 7, 2010 - 5:47 PM by · 4 Comments
Filed under: Art, coexistence, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Life, Picture of the Week, Travel 

Acco (Acre) is a city that no one thinks about throughout the year — until the annual fringe theater festival comes around. It’s a shame because the old city of Acco hides hidden treasures like the Bahai gardens, (more beautiful yet less famous than their Haifa counterpart), that frame the Shrine of Baha’ U’ llah, founder of this secretive religion. Acco’s Crusader Era walls and the seaport are picturesque, and the fish restaurants serve generous and tasty portions.

One person who has picked up on the city’s charms is Elena Comens. New York-based Comens is an award-winning artist who began as a portrait painter, specializing in character study portraits. She picked up a camera after a photographer visited one of her art exhibitions, “and encouraged me to see my world through a viewfinder.”

The scope of Comens’ documentary photographic work “covers elements of poverty or wealth, social change, environmental locations, age relationships and how people communicate within their cultures.”

“Some have used the phrase visual anthropology to describe my work. Documenting people and places along my journey provided me with the opportunity to embrace the relationship of humanity within our environment.”

Comens’ online portfolio entitled, The Spirit of the Land, The Spirit of the People, Israel is a celebration of all areas of our tiny country. She writes, “Although small, Israel has welcomed immigrants from all over the world and consequently has a multi-national flavor, curious in its blend of east and west, remarkably diverse in its people and strikingly beautiful.” Acco, an city with both Arab and Jewish populations, is a good example of what Comens means.

“My primary focus is to capture the essence of a people within their cultural environment. This endeavor is even more rewarding when I can share my vision with others.” More images by Elena Comens, color and black and white, can be viewed at her online gallery.

NOTE: All images supplied by, and courtesy of, the models and/or photographer and are not public domain.

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Picture of the week: Acco festival back on track

October 7, 2009 - 11:17 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Art, coexistence, Picture of the Week 

pic of the week dressing cropThis time last year, rioting over Yom Kippur led to a temporary postponement of the much-loved Acco Festival – an alternative theater festival that spills out onto the streets of the old Crusader city every Succot.

The festival was held eventually in December , but much was written about how the rioting between Jews and Arabs had damaged the fabric of a city where coexistence is the norm, not the exception.

One year on, and the festival, an event devoted to coexistence, is back in its usual time slot and last year’s unexpected outbreak of violence is being put to rest.

Now in its 30th season, visitors to the run-down, but beautiful World Heritage city, have been enjoying some 450 performances from theater groups across Israel and the rest of the world, including a show that follows six Acco residents who took part in last year’s riots.

Picture by Shay Levy/ Flash 90.

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