Legitimacy of Landscape
Yaakov Israel
2015
Yaakov Israel’s Legitimacy of Landscape is a visual exploration of Arab, Bedouin and Druze villages in Israel/Palestine. During the ongoing conflict these villages transform into symbols of ‘the other’ in the eyes of many Jewish Israelis. As a result, these places are slowly losing their place in the visual lexicon that represents this land. Following in the footsteps of the pictorial history of images made in the holy land during the late 19th century, such as Félix Bonfils and Francis Frith, Yaakov Israel ventured out with his 8”x10” camera to document these repressed villages and multi-layered landscapes, which often go unobserved. Physical and emotional borders in this country are often confused, as jumbled and intersected as the land, which has been divided, allotted and re-allotted as a result of the politics of religious and imperialistic power struggles over the years. In his work Yaakov Israel confronts his viewers with the visibility of these “invisible” landscapes.
- Design: Design & Editorial Concept: Markus Schaden, Yaakov Israel, Frederic Lezmi, Wolfgang Zurborn, Richard Reisen
- Editing: The PhotoBook Museum
- Texts: Dr. Mark Long
- Language editing: Dr. Mark Long
- Copies: 1000
- Pages: 112
- Type of binding: hardcover
- Dimensions (cm): 24×30
- Printing: Verlag Kettler
- Type of printing: Offset
- Publication: Verlag Kettler / The PhotoBook Museum
- Place of publication: Dortmund, Germany
- Supported by: Israel Lottery Council for Culture & Arts. Oslo 8 Gallery, Basel. Gallery FIFTY ONE, Antwerp
- Book photography: Yair Meyuhas
- ISBN: 9783862065080
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Yaakov Israel (b. 1974) is a photographer living in Jerusalem. He earned an M.A in curating and critical writing from the Policy & Theory of the Arts program Bezalel, Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem; and B.F.A from the Department of Photography, at the same institution.
He mostly works on long-term independent projects, which reflect on the way the religious, social and political effect and create his personal reality. His gaze is constantly investigating the Israeli identity as perceived through architecture, landscape and the country’s diverse population. “As a person who takes an interest in my surroundings, I find that I return again and again to the same places, and these places and their inhabitants have become vital parts of my biography”. In many of his projects Israel uses the language of strait photography to construct stories that deal with the way he experiences his country’s reality. In the last few years he has been experimenting with constructing fictitious narratives by the use of documentary style Imagery.
His work has been exhibited in solo and group shows internationally and has been featured in many art and photography magazines. Winner of PHotoEspaña Descubrimientos PHE12 Award (2012) and Conscientious portfolio competition (2011). His photographs are part of the Collections of The Knesset, Haifa Museum of Art, The Open Museum of Photography at Tel-Hai, Ashdod Art Museum and Private Collections. He has published two monographs, The Quest for the Man on the White Donkey (Schilt Publishing, Amsterdam, 2012) and “Legitimacy of Landscape” (Verlag Kettler / The PhotoBook Museum, 2015).
Alongside his professional practice, Yaakov teaches photography at some of the most prominent art and photography schools and colleges in Israel.
