LOCAL TESTIMONY 2014

DANA WOHLFEILER-LALKIN, INITIATOR AND MANAGER OF LOCAL TESTIMONY

Local Testimony is an annual exhibition of photojournalism and documentary photography. The exhibition has been taking place in Israel since 2003 alongside the international World Press Photo exhibition. Local Testimony provides a framework to express the cultural importance of documentary photography, demonstrating its social significance through local photographers. This form of photography manifests a complex facet of human existence, which does not receive full exposure in mainstream media.

As the second decade of the Local Testimony exhibition commences, the field of photojournalism and documentary photography finds itself in a complex situation, which beckons a professional reconceptualization. Almost every person in our contemporary society owns a camera, and security cameras never cease to document every single movement. The printed and online press take their photographs from any source who happened upon the scene of the event, and professional documentary photography no longer functions as the exclusive source. Therefore, we have decided that Local Testimony 2014 will mark the beginning of a process, which will express a shift in the

structure of the exhibition and emphasize the unique narratological dimension that is embedded in professional documentary photography. We conducted meetings with colleagues and professionals from the field in order to elaborate and refine an accurate reading of the situation, and articulate together the possibilities for change.

The principal concept we developed attempts to expand the curative work alongside the choices of the jury, in order to shift the spotlight to both the manner in which the documentary photographer tells a story and to the subtle social craft that constitutes the condition for his creation. Thus, alongside the pictures chosen by the judging jury, Vardi Kahana, the curator of the exhibition, will showcase photographers, whose work elaborates the expressive spectrum of photography, sheds light on the discourse between journalism, documentation and art, and emphasizes the artistic values of professional documentary photography.

This program was put into action until the beginning of June, and we hope to fully realize it next year, since the painful chain of events in the beginning of the summer of 2014 that have led to a war in Gaza, dictated another agenda for us. These events led the curator to focus on the events of the war, presented under the title of "Summer 2014."

Since 2009, Local Testimony has found a permanent residence and a loyal partner in The Museum of Eretz Israel, Tel Aviv.

Every year, the Local Testimony editorial board renews and updates the every aspect of the exhibition’s creative process. Every two years, different individuals function as the jury, and as the curators, thus making it possible for the process of choosing the winning photographs to express a diversity of voices and a variety of perspectives.

My gratitude to the jury panel for their devoted and complex work within the framework of Local Testimony 2014. Moreover, I would like to use this space to reiterate my gratitude and deep appreciation to our partners in work, the jury teams, the members of the editorial team and the curators of the exhibition throughout the years, and especially the photographers who submit their work every year, thereby making the continuation of this exhibition possible.