Solo Show Opens at Ha Midrasha School of Art

I'm pleased to announce the opening of my first Israeli solo show, "Tel Aviv 2008-2010" at Ha Midrasha School of Art's Photography Gallery. The show will run from October 21 to November 21, and is comprised of 22 silver gelatin 8x10 contact prints selected from my "Tel Aviv at 100" project by curator Noa Ben Shalom.

Here's a translation of the curator's text for the show:

"Tel Aviv 2008-2010"

Gabriel Benaim

By Noa Ben Shalom

“The process of a city’s physical construction is embedded in its process of cultural structuring. Controlling this cultural structuring process of the space is perhaps deeper and more effective than any political government or party platform, because the hegemony, in contrast to all the visible configurations of government, is present in everything but also invisible to the eye-it hides behind the ’common sense’ of both rulers and ruled, their accepted opinions, what they take for granted, what they find inconceivable, their stories- and ultimately it constructs what we call ‘the normal’.

Similarly to how Peepers’ Beach (Hof Metzitzim) came to be so named after the movie that was made about it, sometimes a city can change just from the fact that it’s looked at differently, that its story is told differently.”

Sharon Rotbard, from White City, Black City

Gabriel Benaim doesn’t have an agenda to change the city of Tel Aviv. The motivating force that drives him to go out to photograph and explore is essentially visual: “For me, the visual is primary, and I expect any work of art, especially my own, to stand on its own visually, without recourse to an intellectual or even conceptual scheme… The act of framing transposes a commonplace object into a work of art, if done successfully, and this transposition is for me the point of photographing. This, then, to come without preconceptions and leave with a new way of seeing something old, summarizes my approach to photography” G. Benaim

At the same time, his photographs narrate his process of getting to know the city, and propose-both in his choice of format ( a large format 8x10 camera which makes possible careful observation on a large frame, while inviting one to work slowly) as well as by his use of black and white film, and certainly in his choice of locations- a different story about a city that enjoys a reputation as a tolerant, cosmopolitan and culturally rich metropolis.


Dates: 21-10-10 til 21-11-10
Hours: Sun-Thurs 8:30-20:00, Fri 10:00-12:30
Phone: 09-747-8730
Email: Photography@beitberl.ac.il
Gallery’s Website: http://www.beitberl.ac.il/academic/art/

Recent Shows at Art of Photography and Griffin Museum, and Merit Award in B&W's Portfolio Issue

My work was recently included in a couple of juried shows in the States, as well as featured in Black and White Magazine's Portfolio Issue. Here are all the details, and thanks to everyone who's taken an interest in my work.

"The Art of Photography Show" ,

Lyceum Theater Gallery

August 28 to November 7.

Juried by Natasha Egan, Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago.

Honorable Mention for "Hayarkon Park", from "Tel Aviv at 100". You can read an interview with Mrs. Egan here about how she selected 111 images out of a pool of almost 14,000.

The Art of Photography Show
Lyceum Theater Gallery
San Diego,CA.
(619) 825-5575



"16th Juried Group Show",
Griffin Museum of Photography

June 30 to August 29.

Juried by Joerg Colberg, editor of the blog Conscientious.

"The best of contemporary photography amazes us by asking questions, by challenging us, to transform us into different persons," writes Joerg Colberg about the exhibition. "For me, that is the essence of contemporary photography. I am very excited to see the 16th juried exhibition reflect this." Please click here for the press release.

Colberg selected 60 images for the show from more than 2,000 images submitted by 300 photographers. Two images from "Tel Aviv at 100", "Gordon Beach #2" and "Azorei Hen #1" were included.

Griffin Museum of Photography
67 Shore Road
Winchester, MA 01890
(781) 729-1158




Black and White Magazine, Portfolio Issue

Black and White Magazine runs a portfolio contest every year, and the winners are published in a special portfolio issue. My series "Wall Art" received a Merit Award, and selections from it were published as a two-page spread in their 2010 Portfolio Issue. Please click here to see the feature.

Installation Views of "Tel Aviv at 100" Solo Show at Walter Keller Gallery, Zurich

Here are some photos of my recent show at the Walter Keller Gallery for those who couldn't make it to Zurich. Thanks to everyone who came by.

Installation Views of "In Review", Gallery 339

For those of you who can't make it to Philly this summer, here are some installation shots of my work in the "In Review" show at Gallery 339, which will be up through September 4.








If you are in the area this summer, here's all the info to get you to the gallery:

Gallery 339
339 South 21st Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215.731.1530
215.735.2839 (fax)
info@gallery339.com
Martin H. McNamara
Principal

HOURS:
Tuesday- Saturday, 10:00 am-6:00 pm

Solo Show Opens at Walter Keller Gallery

I'm thrilled to announce the opening of my first solo show at the Walter Keller Gallery in Zurich. I've been looking forward to this for some time, so it gives me great pleasure to have my work shown in such a great venue. Here's the press release for the show, and I'll have some installation views coming soon.

GABRIEL BENAIM
TEL AVIV AT 100
An exhibition of photographs
April 29 - June 12, 2010

I am very proud to announce the first exhibition of Israeli photographer Gabriel Benaim(*1969). Choosing his series inspired by the city of Tel Aviv for his first international solo exhibition, Benaim presents us with emotionally intense, rigorously composed images that capture the unique light and fascinating architecture of this “white city by the sea”. The unpretentious simplicity of Benaim’s Tel Aviv images appealed to me from the get go. Somewhat to my own surprise. Why was this? Am I developing a new conservative view on photography, as a consequence of having seen too many fervid large-size C-prints? No. The desire for discovering skillfully composed works, laden both emotionally as well as aesthetically that only the medium of photography can produce, has always been there. I am taken by the alertness, the quiet attention to detail of the images. Strolling, leisurely meandering like a flaneur, Benaim captures this city that was founded 100 years ago. Using a large-format camera, Benaim presents us near perfectly produced silver gelatin contact prints. And this in itself is a breath of fresh air given the current confusion within the production of contemporary photography. Almost like a moment of silence in the midst of a noisy performance, Benaim’s images are calm, unhurried; photographs that pull the brakes on the race that is our urban life.

Walter Keller
For more information, please visit our website or contact the gallery
Walter Keller Gallery
Oberdorfstrasse 2, 8001 Zurich Switzerland, T: +41 (0) 43 268 53 65
info@kellerkunst.com / www.kellerkunst.com / Facebook: Galerie Walter Keller
Thursday & Friday 12 am - 6 pm, Saturday 12 am - 5 pm, Other weekdays by appointment.
For images of the exhibition please visit our website as of April 30.

An artist's talk will take place at the gallery May 24.

Article in Photonews Magazine and Book Launch for Portfolio Showcase at C4FAP

I'm pleased to announce that Photonews Magazine, Germany, has published a selection of my "Tel Aviv at 100" images in their current May issue, together with a short essay by Anna Gripp on my work (in German, will have a translation up shortly).



In other news, a selection of images from my "Tel Aviv at 100" series was included in the Center for Fine Art Photography's Portfolio Showcase Vol. 4. The Showcase includes both an online and a print component, and the launch of the book will take place May 7 at the Center in Fort Collins, Colorado. The juror for the Showcase, Kate Ware of the New Mexico Museum of Fine Arts, wrote in her statement about my work:

"Stepping back from the urban flow, Gabriel Benaim views his city from above, revealing the sinuous lines and muscular patterns that form the armature of life in contemporary Tel Aviv."

I had the pleasure of meeting Ms Ware last month at Fotofest in Houston, and spent some time showing her the actual prints of the work she'd chosen online. It was a real treat to make a personal connection with someone who knew me only through an online submission, and I'll write more about the whole Fotofest experience later this month.

Thanks, gracias, grazie...and a couple of shout outs.

So, my Tel Aviv series has been getting a lot of coverage lately online, and I wanted to thank the various people who've taken an interest in my work. First up is the grandaddy of all photography blogs, Conscientious. As many of you know, Jorg Colberg ran his own portfolio competition earlier this fall, and as part of the benefit of participating he's been featuring selected portfolios on his blog. Check out also the interviews he did with the 3 winners, Bradley Peters, Lydia Panas and David Wright. Excellent work all around.


Next up, the Italian site Urbanautica. This site regularly showcases new work dealing with the landscape as a social construct. In their own words, it's "a research project on photography and human landscapes. Dealing with studies on urban and industrial sociology lead us to the idea of a website, without commercial purposes, that tries to bring back people’s looks on the “ways of doing” territories. A sailing by sight, a trip around ideas, people, and what makes them part of nature, and the world." It's run by Steve Bisson and Andrea Filippin, and they publish their short essays and interviews in both italian and english. Lots of good urban landscape photography to look at, much of it from often overlooked parts of the globe.



Alejandro Cartagena is a Mexican photographer whose work has been getting lots of recognition recently (Critical Mass Top 50 and Book Nominee, Lishui Festival, Fotofest International Discoveries, Aperture Portfolio HM, and probably a couple more I'm unaware of: see this blog post over at Flat File for more details). So, first of all, FELICIDADES ALEJANDRO!!! Wow, what an impressive run of achievements. Anyway, I met Ale through facebook and he was kind enough to write a short piece about my Tel Aviv series on his blog. I love the Joe Deal and Lee Friedlander photos he chose to 'hang' next to mine, so we're definitely on the same wavelength. Oh, it's in spanish only btw.

Just a couple more thank you's, first to Exposure Compensation for the nice write up, and to the italian blog click_blog_it for the same. I loved their 'poetica dell'asfalto' description of my work, "Poetics of Asphalt" indeed.


I also recently became a member of an online gallery for emerging contemporary artists, Culturehall. I love the fact that it's cross-disciplinary, so you can see a huge variety of up and coming art from practically every type of media (they do video too). Membership is by invitation or application, so if you're interested definitely apply, you'll be in good company. I found out about Culturehall through Tema Stauffer's blog, an excellent photographer who's also one of their curators. Here's her write up on her most recently curated show up on Culturehall currently.

Her own photography is most definitely worth checking out too, as she's as adept at moody American landscapes as at portraiture.

Two of my favorite landscape photographers, Lois Conner and Steve Smith currently have work up on a show, Of Land, curated by +Kris Graves Projects in NYC. If you have a chance, definitely stop by, some of the most interesting landscape photography on exhibit right now. I'll be doing a review of Steve's work shortly, so stay tuned, but here's a taste of what he does.





More to come on Steve's work, and thanks again to everyone for the interest in my work.

"Tel Aviv at 100" Makes Finalists Stage on Photolucida's Critical Mass and Conscientious

When it rains, it pours I guess. Two separate portfolio competitions have just announced their finalists, and my Tel Aviv project made the cut in both! Critical Mass at Photolucida is the older and more established of the two, and boasts an impressive roster of jurors this year which reads like a "who's who" of the contemporary photography world. Those who make it past the first round have their work seen by these experts, and the top vote-getters get a book of their work published by Photolucida. In addition, they also put together an exhibit of the top 50 finalists.
The second is a brand new competition, run and juried by J.M. Colberg at Conscientious. This is the first year Mr. Colberg is running his portfolio competition, and out of over 500 submissions he's chosen 25 contenders for the top 3 spots. The 3 winners will be announced later this fall, and featured with an interview on Conscientious. Congratulations to all the finalists, and thanks to the judges for all their hard work.

Review of "Tel Aviv at 100" at DLK Collection

My Tel Aviv project just got reviewed at DLK Collection. DLK is a blog written by and for photography collectors, primarily, and they usually only do reviews of NYC gallery shows. I therefore feel honored that they'd write a full review of my work, and am very grateful for the spotlight. Their site is a wonderful place to get a sense of what's going on in NYC gallery-wise, and they are beginning to branch out into other locales. Do stop by and take a look.

"Tel Aviv at 100" featured on "Israelity"

My Tel Aviv project has just been featured on Israelity, a blog dedicated to looking at everything that goes on in Israel other than the conflict w the Palestinians. Do stop by and take a look.

Photographs in Onward '09 and Fraction Magazine

One of my photographs, "Alexander River", was recently chosen to take part in a group show, Onward '09. This show was juried by Peter Barberie, photography curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and will be up til March 22 in Project Basho's Gallery, in Philadelphia. Please stop by their web gallery and take a look, there's some very good work up. You can read a review of the show here.

Also, a new online magazine, Fraction, has just put up their Apug group show and my photograph "Old Bus Station, Tel Aviv" was included. Thanks to David Bram for putting the show together, and here's hoping it'll become an annual event.