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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 – Robert Gorsoun sees Israel’s beauty

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 – Viviana Tagar views Tel Aviv

“Tel Aviv is the city of light and shadows,” says photographer Viviana Tagar. “I decided to focus on the light.” Tagar, whose new book “Tel Aviv One” was recently published, wanted to redress the imbalance in how Tel Aviv is perceived abroad. “People see Tel Aviv as a city of war and despair… it was important to me to portray and present another Tel Aviv for them.” Tagar, a psychotherapist by trade, says that in her daily work she’s encountered many of the painful sides of life in Israel’s major city. “Tel Aviv has many dark aspects. It could be that because I worked with terror attack survivors and other people who lived in shadow, it was important for me to show the sides that are illuminated.”

Tagar’s book, Tel Aviv One, is available at Steimatzky and Tzomet Sfarim bookstores.

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 – 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 – Marco Jona’s Sun & Moon

Jerusalem-based Marco Jona is a professional photographer with a passion for nature, and a particular fascination with the heavenly bodies.

His series, entitled “The Sun and The Moon”, is a work in progress that is being created over time…

…sunrise by sunrise…

…lunar eclipse…

… by solar eclipse

…and sunset by sunset.

More of Jona’s work is on view at his website – www.marcojona.com.

Foto Friday – A Walk Down Nachalat Binyamin

Every Tuesday and Friday, there’s a crafts fair on Tel Aviv’s Nachalat Binyamin Street.

There’s no end to the coverage about it, because it is a very good event that has managed to maintain high standards of quality for over a decade and a half — no mean feat, as so many other so-called crafts fairs start out in promising fashion, then sink quickly into a mire of cheap crap from India and China. But the TA municipality keeps close tabs the Nachalat Binyamin artisans and artists, many of whom staff their own booths.

Most visitors pay more attention to the products than the sellers, as is only natural when shopping. And that’s where the photographer’s eye comes in.

Photographer Jessica D. Korman, a recent new immigrant to Israel, took a stroll down Nachalat Binyamin and — aside from snapping shots of the wares for Tchochkes.com, where she is a regular contributor, she also took a look at what goes on around the booths.

Korman, who studied interior design, says she looks for architectural elements wherever she goes, “to present a different view of an object or event.”

“I like photographing everyday scenes,” Korman says, “always looking for a different angle or perspective to the mundane or even the ‘ugly’ side of things.”

A former picture editor for publications such as Scholastic, Star Magazine and Woman’s World Magazine, Korman now works as a Visual Communications Consultant in Jerusalem. “What I love about [photo editing] is that it is the marriage of written content with images. The proper choice of image will enable one’s work to have the greatest impact. Besides, what better job is there than getting to look at pictures all day?”

There’s inspiration everywhere. More of Korman’s work is available on her website, The F Stops Here.

Foto Friday – Footprints

Sometimes it’s good to take a moment and see Israel from a different vantage point. In summer if you look down, for instance, you’re very likely to see “balatot” — the ubiquitous light limestone floor tile — plus a variety of fun footwear that takes you from work to the beach and back again.

A trip to the Dead Sea affords another type of shoe, suited to mud baths and salt water.

Which is different to what you’d wear to snap some sidewalk graffiti while walking up and down Rothschild Boulevard at Tel Aviv’s Laila Lavan all-night street fair. (This takeoff on the Peace Now logo says “Shalit Now” in reference to captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit).

And sometimes a girl needs to take a rest from those heels at a sidewalk pub (note the Ackerstein paving blocks so typical of Tel Aviv).

A little culture never hurt.

Though these shoes might — especially the price. (Three thousand-plus shekels!)

Thank goodness, at the end of the day, there’s a place to relax on the edge of the Med.

PR woman Efrat Gurman is a consummate media professional who’s made a career out of positioning things differently. She’s a colleague and friend to photographers and in her few spare moments, snaps pictures of her own, mostly of of things that interest her – or that she makes interesting. For more of her “Footprints” series click here.

Foto Friday – Puppet Festival

Sometimes, a set of photos comes across one’s desk that is so arresting, little introduction is needed. I might be prejudiced — as a graduate of the Eleanor Boylan puppetry summer camp in Newton, Mass (1970 and 71) — but judging from the photos, the program for the 12th International Puppetry Festival looks just great. Details below but first, see these:

The festival mascot.

Traditional Indian puppets meet video in “The Magic Box”, a co-production between Israel’s Teatroni and the Holon Theater Center.

Award-winning Italian puppeteer Laura Kibel and her one-woman show, “Gone With The Feet”.

Above, a dramatization of Max Velthuijs’ fantasy, “The Painter and the Bird” (Photo: Giora Shlomi). Below, an exhibition of wooden puppets from the Czech Republic. (Photo: Jan Rosner)

Also on exhibit: puppets from the show “Avenue Q”. The festival will run from July 22-25 at the Holon Theater Center, 13 Remez St. Holon — a suburb of Tel Aviv that is cleverly reinventing itself as Israel’s capital of niche museums and the arts — and tickets are reasonably priced for adults (NIS 50 to 70) and kids (NIS 25-50). Activity workshops available for kids, too. To order: 972 3 502 1555.

 

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