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Foto Friday – Tu b’Shvat is here!

Tu B’Shvat, the New Year for Trees is upon us! The almond trees are in full bloom.

© Barak Sekeles

For those who live in cold climates and can’t get here in time…

© SOBO Dan

…here are some amazing images of pinky-white blossoms against brilliant blue skies.
Photo by Ester Inbar, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Last week was cold and rainy…
Photo by Eli Zahavi, courtesy of Piki Wiki Israel via Wikimedia Commons

…and given this winter’s wacky weather, who knows what next week could bring…
Photo by Ester Inbar, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

…but this weekend we will enjoy ourselves the warm holiday sunshine.
Photo by Dror K, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

I’m a Groundhog’s Day baby, so believe me when I say: only 6 more weeks till spring!

© SOBO Dan

Foto Friday – Oren Izre’el’s fresh look at rehab

The Loewenstein Hospital Rehabilitation Center — or as it’s familiarly known here, Beit Levenstein — is marking its jubilee anniversary this year with an exhibition of photo and video art on the hospital grounds. Loewenstein Hospital is a national referral center for the rehabilitation of brain-injured patients, where it focuses on the evaluation and rehabilitation of locomotor, cognitive and communication disorders.

The show, entitled “A Place of Hope” gives viewers the chance to learn about Beit Lowenstein’s rehab programs that range from traditional occupational therapy and hydrotherapy to novel treatments such as horticultural therapy, Snoezelen – where it is the first hospital to use this controlled multisensory stimulation technique in unconscious patients — as well as laughter therapy.

Photographer Oren Izre’el spent the past year observing Loewenstein Hospital; the result is a fresh point of view of the hospital’s staff as they care for patients and, by extension, their families, too.

The center coordinates vocational training and psycho-social assistance to help patients integrate back into their homes, communities and workplaces.

The center also takes charge of the rehabilitation of a high percentage of Israel’s wounded soldiers, and has researched and developed new techniques and improved prosthetic devices. Many of these have come into much wider use and patients from hospitals in other countries of the world are referred to Loewenstein Hospital for care.

Loewenstein Hospital, part of Israeli health maintenance organization (HMO) Clalit Health Services, is located in Ra’anana; it has 240 beds for short and long-term hospital care, a large number of specialized outpatient clinics, a general day care hospital, a pediatric day care unit and a traumatic brain injury day care unit.

More information is available at the Loewenstein Hospital Rehabilitation Center website.

Foto Friday – Jacob Ackerman’s Birds of Prey

Whether in Israel or abroad, Jacob “Yaki” Ackerman spends days and nights in the heart of nature, lying in wait to capture its magic and power.

Patient and alert, he spends long hours for that perfect split second in which to freeze the action of a body in motion. Perhaps that is why he relates so strongly to birds of prey.

Ackerman’s work will be part of a group art show about Israel’s predatory birds opening next week at the Man and the Living World Museum in Ramat Gan.

This unique museum, situated within the Ramat Gan National Park, features a variety of natural history exhibits as well as a center for educational activity and cultural events.

Ackerman’s extensive portfolio includes images from around the world but his passion is nature photography, and birds in particular. He’s participated in numerous wildlife photography exhibitions and his website contains some magnificent interactive photo albums that should not be missed. Enjoy.

Foto Friday – Reli Avrahami’s “Diary”

Beer Sheva-born Reli Avrahami is one of Israel’s premiere magazine photographers. A new exhibition of her work, “Diary”, will open next week at the Hadassah College in Jerusalem, where she once studied and is now a lecturer.

Avrahami has worked as a freelance portrait photographer since 1986, shooting celebrities, artists and politicians for Israel’s main newspapers and weekend supplements including “Maariv”, “Yediot Aharonot” and “Haaretz” where she is best known for her long-running series of Israeli family portraits.

In “Diary”, Avrahami invites viewers to look in on three generations of her own family: celebrations and tragedies, weddings and funerals, everyday life and unique occasions.

Her daughter – Botticelli curls cascading down her shoulders – en route to a Scout trip…

…the morning of her son’s induction into the IDF…

…her mother, fast asleep in a Netherlands zimmer motel…

or a “Girls Night In” with her sisters and mother.

“Diary” opens at 6:00pm, November 5, 2009 at the Hadassah College, 37 HaNeviim Street, Jerusalem.

Foto Friday – The Israel Photography Exhibition 2

POV, the Israeli Photography Exhibition at Hatachana, the Old Train Station in Tel Aviv’s Neve Tzedek, came out swinging earlier this month with individual retrospectives of works by well-known Israeli photographers. Additionally, there were also collective exhibitions on view at Hatachana — well worth visiting — and on YouTube. These include works by leading photographers, yet-unknowns and news agencies, the unsung heroes of photography in the field.

Last Summer

Israel Sun photo agency

Tomorrow’s Photographers

Foto Friday – Olga Dragunsky’s Forgotten Heroes

Americans know that Jews fought in the US Army in World War II but many are less aware of the Russian Jews who fought equally as valiantly against Hitler. According to the Center for Jewish History: “An estimated 500,000 Jewish men and women served in the Soviet military during WWII… in every branch of the armed forces and on every front… More than 100 Jews held the rank of general, and in many important battles of the eastern front, Jewish generals held key commands.”

“Jews ranked fifth among the ethnic groups, or ‘nationalities,’ who received the highest military accolade of their country, ‘Hero of the Soviet Union.’ About 150 Jews received this prestigious award for their bravery on the battlefield. Altogether, about 160,000 Jewish soldiers received medals and honors of one kind or another, making them the fourth most decorated nationality in the USSR.”

Olga Dragunsky, whose family came to Israel following the fall of the USSR, began photographing elderly Russian war veterans, “because I was interested in the history of the country where I was born. I heard a lot of stories during my life and I decided to know more.”

Dragunsky turned her personal interest into a magnificent final project when she graduated of the School of Photographic Communications, Hadassah College Jerusalem.

Since graduating, Dragunsky has been working as an official photographer for Taglit-birthright Israel. She also self-published a book with personal stories from each veteran.

In May 2005, the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, the Center for Jewish History launched a fascinating website, Letters From the Front: Jewish War Heroes, dedicated specifically to honoring the heroism of those who gave their lives in the fight against fascism. The site presents postcards, letters, medals and other materials from the Blavatnik Archive , a unique private collection whose mission is to share with the public previously unknown historic documents and memorabilia. Definitely worth a look.

Foto Friday – Israel from on high

Every minute of every day, eyes in the sky are watching and recording earth. The resulting images — only a fraction of which are on view to the public — are often incomprehensible and dull to the untrained eye, but sometimes you come across some that are fascinating. For example, this image from the NASA Visible Earth catalogue of a Saharan dust storm covering our region:

Or the beaches of Tel Aviv, as seen from the International Space Station:

It’s s bit shocking to realize the level of detail that satellite photography can achieve. For example, let’s check out the weather, shall we?, courtesy of EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.

Europe-Africa	Middle East
Thermal IR (showing clouds)
Visible wavelength

More weather information can be found at Israel Weather and more satellite images of Israel can be found at the wonderful Israel Science and Technology Homepage, a great resource.

Israel, as the ninth nation in the world to launch a satellite into orbit (the Ofeq 1 in 1988), has its own storied history of space surveillance — and while many of those stories will remain untold for a long, long time, at least one commercial venture has emerged: SpaceCom, whose Amos satellites provide communications services to a range of TV and radio broadcasters around the world.

The Amos 3 went into orbit last year, and launches are planned for 2010, 2011 and 2012. This image, of the Amos 2 satellite launch in 2003, is testament to the vision and tenacity of its founders — principally Meir Amit, a military hero and former head of Mossad who passed away at the age of 88 and was buried last week. A tribute to Amit can be found here.

Foto Friday – Pearls of Music at Azrieli contest

With so many top-flight orchestras and musicians, Israeli is a feast for lovers of classical music and folklore That population is well-served by Pninei HaMuzika or Pearls of Music, a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing Israeli and international artists – in variety of musical styles: baroque, classical music, liturgical music, jazz, Klezmer, Irish, Balkan, gypsy, country and other folk music, flamenco, as well as children plays — through festivals and concert series. Pearls of Music selects unique venues, from Jerusalem’s Ticho House, churches, monasteries, and caves, to, in this case, the stark modernity of the Azrieli Center, which will serve as the backdrop for a unique photo competition.

The contest, which was just announced this week, offers music loving photographers the opportunity to participate in a competition that combines music with the urban landscape of the Azrieli Center Amphitheater, an open-air venue located on the third floor rooftop of the Azrieli Mall, at the base of the Center’s towers.

This year, the Amphitheater will host a series of festive summer concerts, presented by Pearls of Music, kicking off on June 11 with Celtic Fire, a celebration Irish music and dance – yes, that’s them looking like Riverdance — followed on June 20 by the Latino-Argentino Ensemble featuring Natan Formansky who, together with Israeli tenor Yotam Kohen, will perform Latin American songs on acoustic guitars and and exotic instruments. “Brazilian Carnival” an evening of Samba, Salsa, Bosa Nova, Lambada and Capoeira, happens on July 4; an evening of Viennese dance music – from the waltz to the polka – with harp, flute and orchestra on July 24; Israeli folklore on August 13; Jazz, Blues & Swing on August 29; and others to be announced. The series of concerts runs from June 11 to September 25, and tickets can be ordered via the Pearls of Music website.

Now, as to the competition. Check out this trippy pic. Clearly there is plenty of room for improvement and I guess Photoshopping is allowed!

It is sponsored by the Geographical Photography College, Azrieli Malls and Pearls of Music. Participating photographers will be allowed to enter eight of the 11 concerts, with entry limited to six photographers per performance, to take pictures before during and after the show. (Two photographers per performance will be GPC students). Photos will be judged for quality and originality, as well as fidelity to the competition theme “Pearls of Music at Azrieli”. The winning photos will go on display in October at the Azrieli Center gallery. Winners will receive a free subscription to the 2010 Pearls of Music summer concert series, and runners up will receive a course in photography at the GPC.

Interested photographers should contact Giora Shalmi of the Geographical Photography College at: giora@gpc.co.il.

CREDITS: The top two photographs come courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. The latter two are courtesy of Pearls of Music.

Foto Friday – Visit Israel the Virtual Way

“Snob! Have you been to Tiberias yet?” The late great Israeli humorist Ephraim Kishon quipped that those words were scrawled across the Acropolis, chastising those Israelis who preferred to travel abroad rather than tour their own fair country. Today, fortunately, Israelis — and anyone else for that matter — can sit in the air-conditioned comfort of their Athens hotel and visit the sites of Israel in full color — thanks to a new feature on the Ministry of Tourism website: the Virtual Tour of Israel. The new multimedia experience includes 100 videos, 130 panoramic views and dozens of photographs. Here’s a classic:

Ten virtual, ten-day tours are available online, including: general interest itineraries, Jewish interest, Christian interest, Culture and History, Nature, Family, Archeology, Active interest, Mobility challenged and — last but certainly not least — Food and Wine.

Sites that can be visited include Caesarea… Jerusalem… Mitzpe Ramon… the Dead Sea…

The Bauhaus architecture of Tel Aviv …

Here’s Tiberias – we are not snobs!

The Haifa Port, where my running club, the Holyland Hash House Harriers, will be running this weekend with 40 sailors on shore leave!

By the way, the Ministry of Tourism website is available in 11 languages and is updated on an ongoing basis.

 

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