Foto Friday – Viewing Israel with Rafael Ben-Ari
Filed under: Art, design, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Picture of the Week, Travel
Rafael Ben-Ari is a noted Israeli photographer and educator with over 20 years experience. He’s worked for Israeli and international newspapers and magazines, traveled extensively and his photographs has been presented at exhibitions and countries around the world.
Ben-Ari also runs Israel Photo Tours, which offers one-on-one private photography workshops and lessons in Israel. These are day tours, says Ben-Ari, “for photographers on all levels who are serious about their craft and wish to improve their skills while seeing Israel.”
Ben-Ari’s experience with cameras ranges from analog 35mm, digital, and SLR to panoramic and underwater cameras. Light is essential to his work and on location, he makes use of both artificial and available light and light. His students, he states, “learn the art of using light to capture the true essence of Israel”.
He suggests various tour itineraries, such as the ancient, sun-washed city of Acre for those who love the picturesque…
© Rafael Ben-Ari/Chameleons Eye
The dusty Negev desert for those interested in archeology and nature…
© Rafael Ben-Ari/Chameleons Eye
Jerusalem, the city central to Judaism…
© Rafael Ben-Ari/Chameleons Eye
The places holy to three monotheistic religions…
© Rafael Ben-Ari/Chameleons Eye
And for a change of pace, the beaches, sun and fun of Tel Aviv.
© Rafael Ben-Ari/Chameleons Eye
There are a lot more wonderful pictures to view on the Israel Photo Tours website, along with contact information, itineraries and testimonials.
Foto Friday – Camel Model 2010
Filed under: coexistence, education, Foto Friday, General, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Picture of the Week, Travel
The Joe Alon Center is an institute with a unique combination of museum, research center,and field school – all dedicated to the promotion of regional studies. The center devotes its activity to the geographical area between Mount Hebron in the east to the Coastal Plain in the west, Lachish Region in the north and Be’er-Sheva Valley in the south.
The Museum of Bedouin Culture at the Center is a collection of artifacts documenting Bedouin ways of life in different parts of the Negev and Sinai.
This Passover, the museum was host to The Camel Project, a collection of 10 life-sized statues decorated by artists, five Jews and five Bedouins, all of them residents of Israel’s southern regions.
The Camel Project was initiated by The Tent Volunteer Center at AJEEC, the Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation. The project’s goal is to promote Arab-Jewish dialogue through art and, in particular, to provide a platform for artists from the Gaza border region and the towns of Segev Shalom and Lakiyya.
The event also included activities about the desert way of life, including workshops and family activities – not to mention matza-pizza making and rides on the real thing!
Foto Friday – Creepy Crawlies
Filed under: Environment, Foto Friday, General
Last month, scientists at the University of Haifa announced that they had discovered a new and previously unknown species of spider. I don’t know about you, but I greet news like that with mixed emotions: pride in our local research institutions, curiosity at seeing the bug and — now having seen the photos (like this one by researcher Yael Olek) — a dash of alarm. This thing is a big as a Mack Truck.
The researchers say that this spider’s leg-span can reach up to 14 cm., which makes it the largest spider of its type in the Middle East. The species was discovered in the dune of the Sands of Samar in the southern Arava region. It is a member of the genus Cerbalus and was named Cerbalus aravensis for its native habitat, if you like knowing that sort of thing.
Unfortunately, however, the poor critter’s habitat is endangered by — you guessed it — humans and their boundless capacity to screw things up. According to head of research Dr. Uri Shanas, mining projects in the area will endanger the existence of the spider as well as possibly other unknown animal species living in the sands. Hopefully, efforts will be made to preserve this unique region in the Arava, as well as the lifeforms crawling in, out and round about.
Photographer Marco Jona has a particular fascination for such creepy crawlies. Waiting patiently for the right moment, he manages to get in close and catch almost human-like expressions. A few of his photos are presented here with more on display at his website.
Foto Friday – Robert Gorsoun sees Israel’s beauty
Filed under: Art, Foto Friday, General, Travel
Robert Gorsoun is a photographer who takes pictures for the love of it. Wherever he travels, he snaps pictures and Israel is beautiful through his lens…
…the Banias in Israel’s north…

…a rainbow, captured in mid-storm over the Herzliya beach…

…a field of flowers by the roadside, stretching on forever…

…a water lily…

…or flowering cacti at the Utopia Orchid Park…

…and on through to the crater at Mizpe Ramon.

More photos by Gorsoun — including some spectacular panoramas that don’t fit on an Israelity page but should be seen — are posted on Panoramio.
Foto Friday – Yuval Nadel takes to the air
It’s Passover week. And that means the entire nation of Israel is sitting sweltering in traffic jams as the entire north of the country goes south and the entire south of the country heads north — all in the name of family fun. While they do that, let’s for a moment, take to the air with photographer Yuval Nadel.
Kinneret – Photo by Yuval Nadel
Wadi Ara – Photo by Yuval Nadel
Ramon Crater – Photo by Yuval Nadel
Hefer Valley – Photo by Yuval Nadel
Ramon Crater – Photo by Yuval Nadel
Dead Sea – Photo by Yuval Nadel
And so, we land…
Kilometer 101, Arava – Photo by Yuval Nadel
More photos are available at Yuval Nadel’s website.




















