Ofir Barak | Mea Sharim

Photo © Ofir Barak - All Rights Reserved

You'd be forgiven if you thought that the above photograph was taken in Saudi Arabia or Iran, but it's not. It's a street scene in the Mea Shearim settlement outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem in Israel, and part of the photographic project of the same name by Ofir Barak.

We are told that the settlement was established in 1874 and its name is derived from a verse in Genesis 26:12. To this day, it remains an insular neighborhood in the heart of Jerusalem with an overwhelmingly Hasidic population,  and its the streets reminiscent of an Eastern European shtetl. Life revolves around strict adherence to Jewish law, prayer, and the study of Jewish religious texts. It is populated mainly by Haredi Jews and was built by the Old Yishuv (the Jewish communities of the southern Syrian provinces during the Ottoman period).

Interestingly, the numerical value of the words Meah Shearim equals 666, which allegedly has esoteric and kabbalistic meaning in Judaism.

When photographing the settlement and its streets, Ofir Barak felt he had to blend in, and altered his appearance and dress to do so. He grew a long beard, and dressed only in black. A short video of his photographs has been produced to publicize his effort to raise funds to publish a photo book. 

Ofir Barak was born in Jerusalem, Israel, and completed his B.A. in humanities ­(majoring in arts, and history). In 2014, he returned to Jerusalem, in order to photograph a multi layered project that would display the city and its people through his eyes.

A number of interviews with Leica Camera, Lens Culture, and FStop Magazine are available on his website.

Remera | With The Book

Photo © Remera - All Rights Reserved

I haven't posted photographic work documenting Judaism for quite a while, and thought I'd remedy this unintentional lapse by featuring With The Book, a series of photographs made at the Western Wall in Old Jerusalem by Remera (more about him follows).

The Western Wall, also referred to as the ‘Wailing Wall’ is the most sacred place for Jews who believe it to be the only surviving structure of Herod's temple. For Muslims, it is known as the Buraq Wall, where the Prophet Muhammed tied Buraq, the winged riding animal which he rode during the Night of Ascension to heaven.

The wall has been a site for Jewish prayer and pilgrimage for centuries; the earliest source mentioning this specific site as a place of worship is from the 16th century. Rabbinic tradition teaches that the western wall was built upon foundations laid by the biblical King Solomon from the time of the First Temple.

The Sages of the Talmud stated that anyone who prayed at the Temple in Jerusalem was as if he had prayed before the throne of glory because the gate of heaven is situated there and it is open to hear prayers.

Remera is a photographer of Rwandan heritage, who trained as an architect in France, and is currently living in Luxembourg. In 2009, he acquired a camera to document a trip to China. This journey has sparked an interest in photography and the desire to show other cultures. This road leads him around the world; Europe, Africa, North America, India, Nepal, Middle East.

Sasson Haviv: The Jewish World

Photo © Sasson Haviv-All Rights Reserved

Sasson Haviv is an Israeli photographer, currently living in New York. He is passionate about people and their life stories, and delves into rarely seen cultures and religions through his lens.

His website galleries include photographs made in the bars of New York, of the Occupy Wall Street movement, A Sikh community kitchen, an Orthodox Jewish family, and The Jewish World; a collection of images which Sasson describes as documenting the unique Jewish Orthodox world.

In this gallery, he sought to capture the intense spirituality and beliefs of the Orthodox people, and using a mix of fine art and documentary styles, these photographs depict the traditions of an extremely devout and spiritual community. The images were taken both in Israel and New York.

NB: It's pure coincidence that my recent posts were of monochrome photography. Color will shortly return!

POV: TIME Magazine Cover Of Netanyahu

The drivel featured by TIME-Lightbox in relation to its magazine cover of Netanyahu is nausea-inducing on many levels.

But let's stay on what the cover seeks to tell us. In my view, it tries to tells us that Netanyahu's stare is that of a politician,  tough, steely and unwavering...that line may perhaps get swallowed in New York City, but in Europe and the Middle East (yes, TIME magazine will feature the same covers on all its international editions), it'll be construed as a stare of arrogance, zealotry and defiance.

Then, it tells us that he's a "King"...presumably because he has "conquered" Israel by convincing the centrist Kadima Party to join a coalition...and then the cover uses Netanyahu's nickname as a baby (or whatever Bibi is). Is the purpose of infantilizing the name to familiarize him vis-a-vis the American public? Make him one of us...since we have the rather unfortunate habit of nicknaming everyone? 

For crying out loud, the fellow's name is Binyamin Netanyahu...use it.

Drivel.

TIME's LightBox: Oded Balilty

Photo © Oded Balilty/AP-Courtesy Time LightBox

“If I see photographers in one corner, I go away. There is no need to take the same picture as five other good photographers." -Oded Balilty

It's no surprise to me that TIME LightBox is, in my estimation, one of the most exciting and interesting photojournalism blogs out there.

It recently featured Oded Balilty's The Art of Storytelling which consists of 35 wonderfully composed photographs of the Jewish ultra orthodox communities, which includes a series on a traditional Hasidic Jewish wedding, as a funeral of a leading rabbis. and the preparations for Passover.

I especially liked this photograph of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathering for the burial of a rabbi in Israel. It's very clever how Oded bisected the scene into two parts; the crowd surrounding the gravesite, and the solitary man presumably on his way to attend the burial.

Oded Balilty is a photographer for the Associated Press, is based in Tel Aviv and describes his work as something between art photography and photojournalism. He also won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography in 2007 for his photograph of a solitary Jewish woman struggling to defy Israeli security forces in the West Bank.