On View Magazine Fall 2015 | Page 41

THIS PLACE: Israel Through Photography’s Lens For project initiator, Frédéric Brenner, This Place was an opportunity to recontextualize Israel as a place and a metaphor. 11 men and women to accept his invitation to see a land more complicated than headlines suggest. At the same time, he convinced funders to contribute several millions of dollars. The result is an unprecedented international, creative initiative that, according Brenner, is similar to the US Farm Security Administration of the 1930s, which commissioned artists who used photography to explore culture and society. Once the photographers defined their individual projects, Brenner arranged their residencies and provided them with all the necessary resources to complete their work—each spent around six months in Israel over a four-year period. Brenner organized a two-week informal think tank for the photographers on their arrival, with trips and meetings with Israelis, like philosopher, Moshe Halbertal; Bedouin expert, Clinton Bailey; and feminist and peace activist, Leah Shakdiel. He also arranged for each visiting photographer to have a Hebrewspeaking assistant, selected from the Bezalel Academy. For all the photographers, Brenner says, the program was “a profound transformative experience.” Their styles, formats, and areas of interests varied greatly, and Brenner suggests that their art looks far beyond political perspectives. Rather, it’s about exploring the human c