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Foto Friday – Israel through the IR filter with Yariv Drory

Winter is upon us, more or less. Last week, the rainy season began in earnest, then backtracked for a week of unseasonably warm weather. Now, they tell us, it is now due to return with some serious cold, wet weather. It’s too early to tell if there will be snow this year but this series of images by Yariv Drory brings the thought to mind.

Drory has a particular interest in infrared cameras and his images of the Israeli summer landscape through the IR filter are almost hallucinatory.

In real life, the trees are green and the skies are blue but through the IR filter, the trees turn a feathery pink, the skies are black, the seas white, and spiky brush and weeds turn cottony and soft.

According to Wikipedia, which has a very nice entry about infrared photography, “When these [IR] filters are used together with infrared-sensitive film or sensors, very interesting ‘in-camera effects’ can be obtained…false-color or black-and-white images with a dreamlike or sometimes lurid appearance… mainly caused by foliage (such as tree leaves and grass) strongly reflecting in the same way visible light is reflected from snow.”

Also, according to Wikipedia, “…other attributes of infrared photographs include very dark skies and penetration of atmospheric haze… compared to visible light.”

More photos by Yariv Drory are on view at his website.

Foto Friday – Inspecting the Pipeline with Chaim Daon

Chaim Daon is a welding inspector working on one of the country’s most important energy infrastructure projects: the natural gas pipeline. When complete, the gas pipeline – an extension of the El-Arish-Ashkelon gas pipeline from Egypt to Israel, which became operational in 2008 – will be able to transport up to 7 billion cubic meters per year, relieve some of our industries’ dependence on oil, help clean the atmosphere and give additional economic weight to our cold peace with Egypt.

The project, under construction for several years now, comprises hundreds of kilometers of pipeline with joins all along the way, so the work done by welding inspectors like Daon and his colleagues is crucial for keeping pipes intact and leaks at bay.

Daon – or Captain Caveman as he’s known by the Holyland Hash House Harriers, an international drinking and running disorganization (to which I also belong) – allows us a peek at what’s going on just a few meters below the surface…

The tender to build the pipeline was won by a foreign multinational and the teams working on the project come from all over the globe. They work by day…

And by night…

The pipeline is intended to serve Israel’s major industries, chiefly Israel Electric Corporation (IEC), which is in the process of converting its oil-driven power stations to natural gas. IEC noted in its most recent Environmental Report that since the introduction of natural gas in 2004, a carbon dioxide emissions have decreased by 11%. More information about the Gas Market Law and gas reform in Israel is available at the Ministry of National Infrastructures website.

Foto Friday – Sukkot in Jerusalem

The awe-ful part of the Days of Awe are behind us and now it’s time to party! Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, is the holiday when Jerusalem gets itself all decked out…

© RomKri

…and small wooden sukkot, or tabernacles, spring up overnight…

© monti_clif

…dotting the urban landscape.

© Pes & Lev

The Municipality of Jerusalem gets into the act too, with a large public sukka – the perfect opener to this month’s Autumn Nights Festival…

© RomKri

…as well as the annual Jerusalem March, attended by walkers from all over the country…

© monti_clif

…and from all over the world!

© monti_clif

Another event taking place at this time: the International Christian Embassy’s Feast of Tabernacles festival, this year celebrating its 30th anniversary. The festivities begin today with a worship concert at Ein Gedi, continue with a week of prayer and Bible teachings, and conclude with the Jerusalem March on October 6th.

Below is a montage of photos from last year’s Feast of Tabernacles. The photos above are courtesy of the wonderful Jerusalem Shots website – always worth a visit. And here’s wishing a Chag Sameach (happy holiday) to us all!

Feast of Tabernacles 2008 Photo Montage from ICEJ on Vimeo.

Foto Friday – Apples & Honey

One of the more lovely traditions of Rosh Hashana is eating apples dipped honey to symbolize our hopes for a sweet new year. At this season, you start seeing apples and honey everywhere. Body artist Flora certainly does…

Dorit “Dot” Malin, a talented architectural and stage lighting designer, created this lovely image incorporating dance and light.

Israel’s Fruit Production and Marketing Board has chosen to market apples the old-fashioned way…

And there are a slew of apple-themed New Year’s animations on YouTube! A small selection follows. Enjoy! And a healthy, happy and prosperous Shana Tova to all.

Picking apples for New Year at Kibbutz Malkiya

Apples and Honey

Shana Tova – the Apple’s Perspective

Shana Tova – Another Apple

Foto Friday – Nigeria-Tel Aviv

The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria celebrated the Tel Aviv Centennial this week with a festival of arts, culture and cuisine. The festivities, which will culminate on Sunday, included Nigerian gourmet meals prepared under the direction of Chef Charlie Fadida, executive chef of the Tel Aviv Sheraton hotel, together with the dynamic Janet Olisa, wife of the Nigerian Ambassador and a team of Nigerian culinary experts. This came in addition to performances, at the annual Jaffa Nights festival, of traditional African music, song and dance performed by troupes from Nigeria.

The festival also included the opening of a photography exhibition, “Nigeria Through the Eyes of A Passerby”, by Victor Politis. An award-winning photographer and entrepreneur, Politis is founder and CEO of PRI, an international project development and financial advisory company with a focus on emerging markets. His business travels have also afforded him the opportunity to explore his passion for photography and documenting an ever- globalizing world. More about Politis can be found here.

The Nigerian Festival Week includes a film festival featuring the best of “Nollywood“. The Nigerian movie industry, it transpires, is the third largest in the world in terms of number of films produced annually. I did not know that! The festival is held under the auspices of the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, the Nigerian Friendship Association and other organizations from Israel and overseas.

Foto Friday – David Shankbone’s Jerusalem

David Shankbone is a photographer, writer and vice-president of non-profit organization Wikimedia New York City, Inc. He has also, for the last three years, engaged in a public art project on Wikipedia, in which he has released all his photography on topics ranging from landscapes and cityscapes to celebrity portraits, for the public to use. As Shankbone puts it, “I set out on a project to create a body of high-resolution work whose copyright allowed the public to reproduce it, even alter it, without my permission. Even for commercial purposes, as long as nobody’s personality rights are violated.”

“The totality of the work is a documentation of human existence” states Shankbone, who has photographed everything “from subway stations to Kanye West; from Madison Avenue to Madonna; from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to the hills of southern Lebanon.” And, as of this past March, Israel, where he was invited as a guest of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For his project, Shankbone snapped pictures of Jerusalem that are illustrative…

and poetic…

…ranging from the Old City…

…to the New…

…the past — and possibly the future!

Shankbone’s Wikipedia work is an amazing resource, giving users the benefit of being able to use work from a photographer who is both skilled technically, and an artist in terms of effect and composition.

They can also benefit from his news-savvy. On Wikinews, which is Wikipedia’s news arm, Shankbone has posted over 40 interviews with global cultural leaders. A story about the project entitled, “Why Shimon Peres sat down with David Shankbone” is definitely worth a read as it explains a bit about his history and the project.

Foto Friday – Workers of the Promised Land

In the spirit of May 1st, here are a few shots from the big demonstration held in Tel Aviv by socialist youth movement HaNoar HaLomed. But first, a picture from the archives of Marxist movement Matzpen, and their May 1st march in 1979.

And the face of Israeli socialism today:

Three thousand marched from Rabin Square…

…to the Histadrut headquarters where the rally was held.

What would these members of HaShomer HaTzair make of the new socialist revival?

Picture from the Labor Movement archive

Bauhaus travels

If you can’t make it to Tel Aviv this year to celebrate its centennial birthday, there’s a great traveling exhibit by a favorite photographer of mine, Yigal Gawze, showing his collection of Bauhaus photos, Fragments of a Style. The exhibit opened in Chicago, recently moved to San Francisco, and will then be moved to Europe, including the Bauhaus Foundation in Dessau, Germany, as part of the 90th Anniversary of the Bauhaus school.

What’s really lovely about Yigal’s photos in this exhibit is that he hones in on the details and sunlit curves that we all see in Tel Aviv, but in a much gentler light on the normally harshly sunlit buildings.

In his explanation of the photos, Yigal writes:

“It was during the winter season, when the normally harsh outdoor light was softer and more easily tamed, and the white facades stood out against the backdrop of the deep blue sky. I was a tourist in my hometown, and my eyes developed a new sensitivity to my surroundings.
I chose to work in color (in contrast to the historical documents and the modern photographic work done on the subject), in order to better convey the character and the atmosphere created by the local light. The shadow of the palm tree falling on the white facade represents the special encounter that takes place in Tel Aviv between a building style originating in Europe and the Mediterranean glare.

From the start, I chose to focus on the fragments. I felt that I could capture the spirit of this architecture by focusing on an essential part of the structure, which carries within it the genetic code of the whole. It was also an attempt to convey something of the utopia of the years which saw the building of the ‘White City’. Only in the last part of the work, did I step back to deal with the whole building and its relationship to the street as part of the city.”

Nostalgia Sunday – Mekorot’s water portfolio

To celebrate Tel Aviv’s Centennial anniversary, Mekorot, Israel’s national water company, has dug into its photo archive and released images from the construction of the Tel Aviv water pipeline project. Check out the kovaei tembel, the soft cloth hats that once symbolized the Israeli pioneer worker.

These images are from 1963. The original Western Pipeline – Yarkon-Negev Plant pipeline was completed in 1955 but as Tel Aviv’s population grew, along with demand for water, it was decided to add the additional Dan pipeline to boost the water supply. The project was completed in the mid-60s.

Today, Mekorot is considered one of the world’s most technologically advanced water companies and a world leader in desalination, water reclamation, water project engineering, water safety, water security and water quality. Its all-important task is formulating and implementing the country’s national water policy.

Over the past 12 months, Mekorot has embarked on a number of major projects, including the construction of a fifth pipeline to Jerusalem…

…construction of the desalination facility in Ashdod with a capacity of 100 million cubic meters a year and linking of the desalination facilities along the coastline — such as the world’s largest such plant at Ashkelon, pictured here — with the national water system…

…plus other projects aimed at increasing the supply of water, for example, cloud seeding in the winter months. Mekorot has engaged in “rain-enhancement” for over 45 years and has managed to increase the annual rainfall in the Sea of Galilee catchment by 13%-18%.

Mekorot facilities have visitors centers with guided tours. As for the archive, it isn’t presently online but give them time. And, given their technological edge, it will be amazing to think of what pictures Mekorot will release when Tel Aviv’s 200th rolls along.

Images of Israel traveling across China

Passover in the Far East? Old news. Israelis are known for traversing the world with nothing but backpacks. It was on a trip like this that Tel Aviv’s Sally Macklef fell in love with her camera as a conduit for artistic expression.

Now Macklef’s work has come full-circle, with her images joining those of 59 other Israeli artists to form Inside Israel, an exhibition which opened at the Three Gorges Museum in the Chinese city of Chongqing in December and is set to travel to the region’s leading museums and cultural institutions for the remainder of the year.

This isn’t the first time that Israeli art is being exported to China en masse, and the exhibit comes in the context of increases in Israeli-Chinese tourist and cultural cooperation over the past year.

Macklef’s work often portrays Tel Aviv as a place where the balance of ancient life gets lost in the shuffle of today’s concrete wastelands (pictured is her disaffected work Cactus), but her Inside Israel images of Hassidim performing holiday rituals come decidedly from a place of inspiration and appreciation, as she explained recently to The Jerusalem Post:

“All this happiness fascinates me, this power of community,” Macklef explained. “I realized that when you’re not happy, you can’t believe in God.”

Inside Israel’s 180 pieces depict our country as a place where natural wonders, community, contemporary urban life, ancient ethnicities and architectural marvels can be observed, as curated by Three Gorges Museum staffer Yang Chaupang and Israeli art scenesters Doron Pollack, Iris Elhanani and Esther Dollinger.

 

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