The Andrea Meislin Gallery is
currently presenting a collection of photographs by Igael Shemtov for a show
titled The Photo Album 1979-1980. As
the title of the show indicates, the photos were taken between the years 1979
and 1980 while Shemtov was working as a quality controller at a Kodak lab in
Israel. Shemtov captured various events and objects that he encountered
throughout his daily life and often focused on instances of families spending
time together and how the lower middle class lived, which became major themes
throughout his work.
One intriguing photograph titled Volume 1 #45 was taken on an empty beach
in the summertime. The subject is an amusement park ride or play area for
children resembling a whale. It’s composed of an upside down boat where the
seat, representing the creature’s mouth is held up by sticks that represent the
teeth. Several holes can be seen coming out from the sides representing eyes
and air holes including three that are grouped together revealing multicolored
slides leading to the ground. The lower half of its body is covered with a
coating with a colorful, triangular pattern as a ladder can be seen leading up
to a curved slide that represents the tail.
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| Photo Album Volume 1 #45 by Igael Shemtov |
Companionship and love are
effectively captured in Volume I #43
where a man and a woman are relaxing together side by side on the bright green
grass in the summertime. In the bottom, left-hand corner, Shemtov’s shadow can
be seen capturing the couple in their moment of happiness.
Igael Shemtov was born in Israel
and lives in Binyamina. Since 1979, he has taught at the Photography, Video,
and Computer Imaging Department at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in
Jerusalem. In addition to his photography, his role as an educator became an
important part of his career and has been a major influence upon several
generations of Israeli photographers.
