End of November

I'm in Frankfurt, Germany now for almost 3 weeks. My mother in law, a beautiful human being, who you may know from my ongoing series "A portrait of shadows and light" fell and broke her leg. At the age of 94, this may be a minor surgery, but it is a major trauma. For the first time in my life I am aware to how fragile life is. Like the few leaves that hold on to the bare tree branches. 

It is here, when I sit next to her that I realize how the will to live is what fills the frail body. When she is depressed, the light goes away from her eyes. When I say something that makes her laugh - her face seems to fill up, her eyes glow.

When I am not in the hospital, I spend most of the time in her small apartment. Photographing, writing, drawing. Capturing her presence around me even when she is not here. 

She is better now. Just moved from the hospital to a "Parents home". Surrounded by family pictures, weekly news magazine and her favorite crossword book, she seems to be slowly getting back to herself.

Outside, there are fewer and fewer leaves on the trees. End of November.

End of November

A taste of light - Japan 2015

I was fascinated by light from the moment I started to photograph. Learning to see and understand the light is a never ending process.

After a year of intense photography, I realize that when the light is perfect, it almost does not matter what you photograph - the image will be stunning.

The trip to Japan revealed new facets of light . Light filtered by the rice paper. Lights of a lone house in a village at night. A single window lighting up a shady room.

And when you really 'taste the light' - there is no way back. You are hooked.

Dinner preparations - Kadoide, Japan 2015

Portraits of motherhood

The decisive moment, Henri Cartier-Bressons' legacy to photographers. The moment when everything comes together. When a private moment turns into something bigger.

Unlike Cartier-Bressons, it does not happen very often that I capture decisive moments in my images. Not surprising given that he is also the one who said "Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst". That's it if you are as talented as him.To me it might take longer ...:)

Yesterday, I was taking photos of my stepdaughter  and her 2 sons. As it is Purim now, Carnival time, I wanted to capture them  in their costumes. Just before changing outfits, they all climbed into the hammock. 

I took quite a few pictures of the boys in costume, but the images I love the best are the ones I did not really intend to take. Portraits of motherhood. Protective. Loving. Timeless.

The prayer

We all pray in different ways. 

Some are reciting text they deem holy. For some - their art is their prayer. This is the case with the belly dancer captured in this image. 

We did a photo shoot a few weeks ago, and when we finished, I told her that to me, her dance is the closest thing to prayer I have ever seen.

When I saw the call for photographers to submit images for the Con-Text juried exhibition at Darkroom Gallery - I knew what is the image I want to submit. 

I photographed a Psalms book we have at home, combined the images, and there it was - The prayer.

And to my greatest delight, this image was selected to be part of the exhibition opening on 1.1.15. :)

What is prayer to me? Its when you feel part of something bigger than yourself. I can feel it sometimes when I am in the midst of nature or when I succeed doing something that makes a real difference. 

What is prayer to you?

Portrait of a dancer

The belly dancer

We met a few month ago. I was looking for a model to photograph for a portrait project, she was looking to renew the photographs on her site.

The click was immediate. I danced for many years, somewhere on my to do list is learning belly dancing. For her, dancing is the way you learn to love your body. not the perfect one you do not have, but the one you do. The way to connect with your most inner self, to pray, to be happy.

We went to a sandy park, when the sun was just about to set. She with a few costumes, I with a few lenses.

She danced barefooted on the sand, I danced with the camera around her.

Is this her portrait? A portrait of my yet unfulfilled wishes? The essence of dance?

Or maybe all of these together.