
Photography: Ahikam Seri
Local Testimony 2007
Gallery
2007
Photo of the Year | Series of the Year | News | Society and Community | Religion and faith | Nature and Environment | Sport | Urbanism and Culture | Long Exposure | Video
Prof. Yossi Yonah – Ben-Gurion University / Van Leer Jerusalem Institute
Naama Haikin – Curator of the Open Museum of Photography, Tel Hai
Ala Hlehel – Journalist and Author
Gabi Menashe – Photo Editor, YNET
Ibtisam Mara'ana – Film and Television Director
Anat Saragusti – Photographer and Journalist, Channel 2 News
Shlomo Arad – Press Photographer
Miki Kratsman – Press Photographer and Head of the Photography Department at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem
Keren Strauss – Senior Art Director, Getty Images, Los Angeles
Photo of the year
Independent photographer
Natan Dvir
Nai'm Eli'am, Palestinian resident of Jabalia Refugee Camp waiting at Erez Checkpoint with the body of his three-month old son, who died after treatment of congenital defect at Tel-HaShomer Hospital. The checkpoint was closed in this period due to Hamas' take control of Gaza strip.
June 18, 2007
Series of the Year
Rina Castelnuovo
The New York Times
From sunrise to sunset they search through the heaps of garbage, scavenging for discarded metal for recycling. For twenty Shekels per day, dozens of Palestinian kids, the youngest is nine years old, dig in the trash that flows from Jewish settlements like Kiryat Arba, Hebron, Maon, as well as from army bases and Palestinian villages. They live on the other side of the Separation Barrier in economic distress, unemployment and despair. They are sent to do the horrible work by fathers, who until the outburst of the second Intifadah, earned a living working in Israel. In the early hours of the morning, in between arrivals and departures of trucks, smoke descends over the land from the burning garbage, the dump turns into the only playground for the children, that the majority of them waive education. At times, from the trash bags, a treasure is extracted; a used Purim costume, an umbrella, an alarm clock. For an instant they are children again. One of them, with white pair of wings on his back, lingers at the dump, like a butterfly.
June 18, 2007
News
2nd prize
Single
News
Flash90
Michal Fattal
An old Muslim man passes by an Israeli police horseman who overlooks a prayer arranged by religious Muslims in the middle of the street. In the aftermath of the tension and demonstrations caused by work on the Mugrabi Gate in Jerusalem, young worshippers were not allowed entrance to the Old City.
February 10, 2007
1st prize
Series
News
MaanImages
Wissam Nassar
In the beginning of November 2006 a series of Israeli shelling were launched over Beit Hanun neighborhood. The worst attack took place at dawn on November 8th. In the attack 19 Palestinian citizens were killed, among them ten women and seven children, and tens were wounded. Most of the victims were from the Atamna family.
Deadlocked, Gaza
November 2006
2nd prize
Series
News
Getty Images
Uriel Sinai
Haaretz
The city of Sderot and the communities of the Gaza envelope have been marked by Palestinian terrorist groups from Gaza as the prime goal for attack by Qassam missiles. In the last year, an average of five Qassam rockets have been launched over Sderot every day, and force the residents of the area to live in constant fear of the next "code red" alarm.
The city of Sderot
August 2007
3rd prize
Series
News
Panos Pictures
Ahikam Seri
African Refugees in Israel. Recently the number of African refugees crossing the Egyptian border and asking shelter in Israel increased. The Israeli public has been familiarized with their situation, since some of them are refugees from the Darfur war. Since there is no official policy concerning refugees, they are moved from one framework to another. Some are arrested and detained in the Ketziot prison in the Negev; others are placed in civilian settlements willing to host them. Arriving to Israel fills the refugees with new hope, yet, their future and destiny remains unclear.
Summer 2007
Society and Community
1st prize
Series
Society and community
Nir Kafri
Haaretz
In the Palestinian village Ya'bad, in the North of Samaria, the tradition of making coal is still preserved. The coal is produced primarily of snippets of tree trunks and branches from citrus trees, covered with straw and sand and burned slowly for several weeks.
2007
2nd prize
Series
Society and community
Kobi Wolf
Independent photographer
The photographs from Abrabanel document the life at a mental health center, without revealing the identity of the photographed persons. The project was born out of an interest in the humane texture and the special atmosphere characterizing the place. The assignment took place over one and a half year, and required assimilation into the community. The need to preserve the patients privacy and the sensitivity surrounding the shooting process, led to the creation of several techniques in order to hide the identities and create a significant documentary procedure. The selection of the shooting angel created different cuts, and the use of exposure created silhouettes and focus changes.
2005-2006
3rd prize
Series
Society and community
Dan Keinan
Haaretz
Beauty contest for girls of foreign workers from the Filipino community from the age four to six. The community had arranged the event as an expression of gratefulness towards the Israeli State for providing legal status for approximately 2,750 children. The children received status as permanent residents and their families as temporary residents. Until now approximately 600 children have received a permanent status. Nevertheless, this agreement is effective only for children who were 10-years old before December 31, 2005. All the girls competing at the event are not recognized by the State and due to be expelled.
August 2007















































