Photography: Kobi Wolf / Contact Press Images
Local Testimony 2018
Gallery
2018
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
Local Testimony 2018
Local Testimony, the annual exhibition of photojournalism and documentary photography, has been held in Israel since 2003, alongside World Press Photo, the international photography exhibition. Local Testimony offers a platform for exhibiting the cultural qualities of local professional documentary photography, and concretizes its social import – photography that manifests the complexity of human existence, which is not fully exposed in the customary media.
In the years in which Local Testimony has been held, we have witnessed radical change in photography in general, and photojournalism, in particular. Thanks to technological innovation and the social networks the ability to photograph and disseminate pictures is available to and straightforward for all: many photography customers seek engage in photography, while numerous professional photographers find themselves increasingly involved in teaching the theory of photography.
Scrutiny of the list of photographers, whose works have been shown in this exhibition in recent years, reveals that the number of photographers working independently is ever increasing, while the number of photographers working for the press and in agencies is decreasing. As a result, professional photographers are forced to face financial instability. Nonetheless, and fortunately so, these photographers continue their work in the field, in order to fulfill their social and cultural mission, driven by a sense of calling and loyalty to documentation and the exposure of the story; they are the ones who identify crucial moments and turn them into a significant photograph, a unique picture etched on memory.
I would like to express my gratitude to the photographers for their admirable and important work, and the members of the jury for their complex endeavor during all stages of judging, from the beginning through the final and decisive discussion of the selection of the photographs that compose this exhibition.
The exhibition was made possible by your loyalty and work.
Through Thick Smoke
Ami Steinitz, exhibition curator
A war of low but ever-increasing intensity has been going on over the past year; heavy clouds of smoke accompany reports on IDF attacks in the depth of Syria, confrontations with Palestinians on the border of the Gaza Strip, and scorched fields ignited by incendiary kites and balloons in the settlements of Otef Gaza. The instable security has aggravated political, media and social polarization in everyday life: war/no war, deportation/no deportation; religionization/no religionization, enlistment/no enlistment; evacuation/no evacuation; occupation/no occupation, corruption/no corruption, nationalization/nation.
The lack of clarity vis-à-vis the extant situation and its implications worsen also as a result of changes in the character of documentation. Freedom of information and opinion in the social networks and global media channels is manipulated for disseminating fake news by private people, organizations, and countries. Photojournalism alters when numerous events are photographed by security cameras and smartphones used by the man in the street, and are circulated in the media. Thus, the financial and job-related sources of sharp-eyed photographers in the field diminish and the documentation of reality is flawed.
The uniqueness of documentary photography lies in its exclusive capture of an uncontrollable event, through which a story, hidden from our eyes, is revealed. The value of the art of photography is greater than the simplistic description of an event, and the documentary photograph expresses a repressed dimension of the world of phenomena. Through the thick fog of “there will be nothing because there is nothing” Local Testimony 2018 seeks to present an illuminated document of human culture, replete with contradiction, danger and compassion
Photo of the year
Olivier Fitoussi
Haaretz
MK Oren Hazan of the Likud takes a selfie with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and coalition members after a nightly vote on the nation-state law, after it passed in the Knesset. Also in the photo: MKs Avi Dichter, Nurit Koren, Yaron Mazuz, Ayoob Kara, Miki Zohar and Anat Barko.
Israeli Knesset, Jerusalem
July 18, 2018
Series of the Year
Barry Talis
Private moments of a religious and ecstatic experience during ceremonies and rituals. The photos were taken employing a long exposure technique, which creates chaos, and a flash device that underscores the main figures.
July 18, 2018
Israeli Knesset, Jerusalem
News
1st prize
Single
News
DPA
איליה יפימוביץ
A Palestinian youth during a conflict with IDF soldiers in the West Bank, in the second week of demonstrations following US President Donald Trump's announcement regarding the move of the US Embassy to Jerusalem
Kalandia
20 December 2017
2nd prize
Single
News
Getty Images
Lior Mizrahi
Soldiers enveloped in smoke caused by a fire that broke out after an incendiary kite was launched from Gaza.
Nahal Oz
15 May 2018
3rd prize
Single
News
Contact Press Images
Kobi Wolf
A demonstrator from the Druze community during the Druze demonstration at Rabin Square, protesting against the Nation-State Law.
Tel Aviv
4 August 2018
1st prize
Series
News
Reuters
Amir Cohen
Incendiary kites, fires, smoke and rockets in Otef Aza (Gaza Envelope).
Otef Aza
November 2017-August 2018
2nd prize
Series
News
Polaris Images
Ziv Koren
Confrontation between Palestinians and IDF soldiers at the border fence.
Israel-Gaza border
May-June 2018
3rd prize
Series
News
Reuters
Ronen Zvulun
Toward the end of the war in Syria refugees were banned entry into Israel. At the same time, humanitarian and medical assistance continued for Syrian civilians as part of the “Good Neighbor” program conducted by the IDF. After Assad’s regime gained control over the border at the Golan Heights, the program was discontinued.
Israel-Syria border,
7-24 July 2018
Single
News
Shlomi Yosef
Shaul Elovitch and Nir Hefetz at the district court, during discussion of their detention.
Tel Aviv
27 February 2018
Single
News
Flash 90
Hadas Parush
Military helicopters searching for missing youth swept away in a flash flood in Nahal Tsafit. Twenty-five youths, who were on a trip conducted by a pre-military academy, were caught in the flood. Ten of them lost their lives in the disaster.
Nahal Zin area, southern part of the Dead Sea
26 April 2018
Single
News
Flash 90
Yonatan Sindel
Family and friends of Rabbi Itamar Ben Gal, murdered by a terrorist near Tzomet Ariel, weeping at his funeral.
Har Bracha
6 February 2018
Single
News
Flash 90
Yonatan Sindel
A worker hanging up a sign with directions to the US Embassy in Armon Hanatziv.
Jerusalem
7 May 2018
Single
News
Contact Press Image
Kobi Wolf
Reception for 16-year-old Ahed Tamimi, accompanied by her mother, upon her release after eight and a half months imprisonment for hitting a soldier.
Nabi Salih
29 July 2018
Single
News
Oren Ben Hakoon
Israel Hayom
Arik Harari, one of the representatives of people with disabilities who participated in a Knesset discussion on the issue of a raise in income, confronting another representative and attempting to attack him.
Knesset Yisrael, Jerusalem
5 בדצמבר 2017
Single
News
Ohad Zwigenberg
ידיעות אחרונות
A demonstrator protesting against corruption in front of the Prime Minister’s residence on the day the latter was interrogated by the police.
Jerusalem
10 July 2018
Society and Community
1st prize
Single
Society and community
Marc Israel Sellem
Jerusalem Post
Miriam and Neria playing with their infant son.
Yitzhar
12 August 2018
2nd prize
Single
Society and community
Dubi Roman
After 52 years of high-quality public broadcasting, and despite protest on the part of employees and the public, the educational television broadcasting has become silent. A unique cultural endeavor, which had a deep effect on numerous generations in Israel.
Tel Aviv
18 August 2018
3rd prize
Single
Society and community
Amit Sha'al
For Yedioth Ahronoth
A demonstrator burning the photo of Minister of the Interior, Arieh Deri, during a demonstration of inhabitants of south Tel Aviv against African asylum seekers.
Tel Aviv
30 August 2018
1st prize
Series
Society and community
Oren Ziv
Activestills, for Local Discussion
The village Khan al-Ahmar was founded in the 1950s between Jerusalem and Jericho by Bedouins who were evicted from the Negev. In September 2018 the Supreme Court approved the demolition of the village, including the school where children who live in the area study. The evacuation of the village, located in E1 area, has won international interest, since it is regarded as part of an Israeli attempt to prevent the territorial continuity of a Palestinian State.
Khan al-Ahmar
11 June-18 July 2018
2nd prize
Series
Society and community
Dan Haimovich
The portraits of asylum seekers, photographed after the worsening of the deportation and imprisonment policy, and as part of social activity for stopping deportation.
Outside the Holot Detention Center
10 February 2018
Single
Society and community
Kobi Wolf
Drag queens behind the curtains at a drag performance during Israel’s Pride Week.
Gan Meir, Tel Aviv
6 June 2018
Religion and Faith
1st prize
Single
Religion and faith
Emil Salman
Haaretz
Activists of the Temple Movements slaughtering a lamb, as they reenact the Passover ritual sacrifice, in preparation for the Third Jewish Temple, in Jerusalem's Old City.
Jerusalem
19 March 2018
2nd prize
Single
Religion and faith
Asaf Friedman
For Yedioth Tikshoret
A mikveh (bath used for ritual immersion) at the building of the Tomb of Benjamin.
Kfar Sava
1 August 2018
3rd prize
Single
Religion and faith
Guy Aloni
Thousands of believers from the Ethiopian Church at the Holy Fire ceremony. According to their faith, a miraculous fire is lit during the ceremony.
Jerusalem
10 June 2018
1st prize
Series
Religion and faith
Asaf Friedman
Chevra Kadisha employees regard the work of tohara (preparing the body for burial) and burial as a mission, based on the sublime goal of maintaining the honor of the dead on his or her final voyage to eternal rest.
Cemeteries
January-August 2018
Single
Religion and faith
EPA
Abir Sultan
An ultra-Orthodox Jew dives into the Ein Mabua stream at Nahal Prat during a vacation of Bein Hazmanim (literally, between times, meaning the yeshiva vacation).
Nahal Prat
6 August 2018
Single
Religion and faith
Aharon Kritzer
For the first time in Israel Sufis from all over the world assembled for the ceremony of the Whirling Dervishes. Sufism is a collection of Muslim mystical traditions, that seeks to acquire a connection between God and Mankind. Encounters between Jewish and Muslim mysticists have taken place over the generations, and today there are still individuals and groups who practice these traditions.
Jaffa
31 March 2018
Single
Religion and faith
Ohad Aviv
A heartfelt goodbye after the Purim Tish. Purim marks the height of the tradition of Gemilut Hasadim (the giving of loving-kindness). The precept of “love thy neighbor as thyself” is deemed the highest level of adherence to God, more than intoxication, which makes one forget the distinction between blessed and cursed.
Bnei Brak
1 March 2018
Nature and Environment
1st prize
Single
Nature and environment
Ohad Zwigenberg
Yedioth Ahronoth
Israel Border Police at a camouflage drill.
Jerusalem Hills
27 March 2018
2nd prize
Single
Nature and environment
Ohad Zwigenberg
Yedioth Ahronoth
Museum of Natural History Jerusalem, inaugurated in 1962 in a 19th century historic building, is in danger of closing down, the result of a real estate project.
Jerusalem
30 June 2018
3rd prize
Single
Nature and environment
Flash 90
Hadas Parush
A volunteer cleaning a sea turtle in the breeding center facilities at the National Sea Turtle Rescue Center run by Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority. There are approximately 23 16-year-old green sea turtles at the breeding center, that live there until they are 20 years old, the age of sexual maturity, when they will be released into the Mediterranean.
Michmoret
11 September 2017
1st prize
Series
Nature and environment
Alexander Bronfer
Bathers and visitors at the Dead Sea, near Har Sdom.
Ein Bokek
September 2016-August 2018
2nd prize
Series
Nature and environment
Mickey Brandt
Expansive areas in the Dead Sea have been defined as dangerous due to the ecological disaster of the drying of the sea, which brought sinkholes in its wake. The number of sinkholes as of today is some 6,000, and the number grows at a rate of several hundred a year.
Dead Sea
January-August 2018
3rd prize
Series
Nature and environment
EPA
Abir Sultan
Burnt fields near the Gaza border.
Otef Aza
May-August 2018
Single
Nature and environment
Alex Kolomoisky
Yedioth Ahronoth
Spider nets, that multiply in outstanding numbers, cover the vegetation on the banks of Nahal Sorek in impressive lace curtains. Treated sewage water is directed into the stream, thus enabling the growth of the Chironomus that serve as food for the spiders.
Jerusalem Hills
9 November 2017
Single
Nature and environment
Shlomo Serry
Inversion: air pressure at a height prevented the warm air in the Ramon Crater to rise and disperse; the warm air caused the water vapor to condense and flow into the crater.
Miztpe Ramon
17 August 2018
Single
Nature and environment
Reuters
Amir Cohen
Parachuting supplies during a demonstration of skills at the pilots’ course graduation ceremony.
Hatzerim
27 December 2017
Single
Nature and environment
Bonnie (Manns) Levro
A natural fisherman’s harbor.
isr al-Zarqa beach
10 November 2017
Single
Nature and environment
Mickey Brandt
An abandoned carpark at the Kibbutz Ein Gedi guesthouse. The drop in the Dead Sea’s water level and the formation of sinkholes - both the result of the reduction in water flow in the Jordan River and the potash plants in Sdom - brought about an abandonment of extensive areas.
Ein Gedi
12 April 2018
Single
Nature and environment
Independent photographer
Doron Nissim
Border fence with Jordan, alongside the protection fence at the Ramon International Airport in the Arava.
תמנע
21 December 2017
Single
Nature and environment
Maor Kinsbursky
Male horses, one young, one adult, battling for dominance.
Gamla area, the Golan Heights
16 March 2018
Sport
1st prize
Single
sport
Ohad Zwigenberg
Yedioth Ahronoth
Yossi Benayoun, one of the best Israeli football players, came to play with Beitar Jerusalem. As a result of an argument with the owner, Eli Tabib, he was forced to leave the club.
Jerusalem
17 January 2018
2nd prize
Single
sport
David Czernobilsky
Sergey Obruchnikov, a former professional boxer who came from the Russia, working out, strengthening the muscles at the back of his neck by lifting a weight hanging from his neck.
Maccabi Lod boxing club
19 June 2018
3rd prize
Single
sport
Gilad Kavalerchik
Giro d'Italia is one of the most exclusive bicycle races called the Grand Tour. In 2018, the race was conducted beyond the borders of Europe for the first time, and started off in Jerusalem.
Road No. 40, south of Nahal Paran
6 May 2018
1st prize
Series
sport
Michael Shvadron
Horse race on a racecourse in the Negev.
Midan al-Madhbah, near Segev Shalom
April-May 2018
2nd prize
Series
sport
Geni Agency
Tomer Neuberg
Behind the scenes, Israel bodybuilding championship.
Hatikva Neighborhood, Tel Aviv
21 May 2018
3rd prize
Series
sport
Avi Roccah
Yedioth Ahronoth
A surfing competition for people with disabilities was held for the first time in Israel. Volunteers from the Ashdod Surfing Association helped in conducting the competition.
Ashdod beach
13 July 2018
Single
sport
Dudy Ardon
Raphael Ruta in the Israeli championship in dynamic free diving.
Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports
20 April 2018
Single
sport
Nir Keidar
Haaretz
European judo championship, 90 kilo, quarter final competition. The judoka Yahor Varapayeu (in white) of Belarus wins over Batuhan Efemgil (in blue) of Turkey.
Tel Aviv
27 April 2018
Single
sport
Benny Doutsh
Almog Alfuma, a professional cyclist and trainer, riding in Single Beeri, after the cyclist route was severely damaged in one of the fires in Otef Aza.
Beeri
6 June 2018
Single
sport
Lilach Weiss
Jimmy Beer at the national skateboard championship, as part of the Urban Challenge festival, in the adult category.
Hecht Park, Haifa,
26 July 2018
Urbanism and Culture
1st prize
Single
Urbanism and culture
Asaf Kliger
Tom Yaar removing her makeup at the end of a day of filming for the program “Tom Yaar is doing matriculation”.
Tel Aviv
18 June 2018
2nd prize
Single
Urbanism and culture
Gabi Ben Avraham
Cleaning up the Carmel Market before the Sabbath.
Tel Aviv
13 July 2018
3rd prize
Single
Urbanism and culture
Eli Basri
Scaffolding at a building site. Every year several dozens of workers are killed due to faulty safety conditions, two and a half times more in comparison with the European Union. In 2018, 38 workers were killed and 162 injured in Israel.
Ness Ziona
6 May 2018
1st prize
Series
Urbanism and culture
Reuters
Corinna Kern
Roofs of Tel Aviv serve as a safe haven for various purposes.
Tel Aviv
October 2017-January 2018
2nd prize
Series
Urbanism and culture
Ilan Ben Yehuda
The light that infiltrates the Carmel Market through the tin roofs accords special color to human moments that characterize time and place.
Tel Aviv
2014-2018
3rd prize
Series
Urbanism and culture
Ilan Burla
The dog, man’s best friend, is often revealed as a fascinating entity and an inseparable part of the human and urban mosaic.
Tel Aviv
May 2015-August 2018
Single
Urbanism and culture
Shlomo Serry
A guard at the Louise Bourgeois “Twosome” exhibition.
Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv
Single
Urbanism and culture
Eli Atias
The old abandoned central bus station in the Bat Galim Neighborhood, reminiscent of the past despite its current condition.
Haifa
22 December 2017
Single
Urbanism and culture
Ilan Ben Yehuda
Vered is a homeless woman, an unusual figure in the periphery of the periphery, an odd woman with a masculine appearance.
Tel Aviv,
10 December 2017
Single
Urbanism and culture
Avishag Shaar-Yashuv
Students photographing actor Yon Tomarkin before a performance.
Ramat Gan
9 November 2017
Single
Urbanism and culture
Avishag Shaar-Yashuv
Netta Barzilai at the Israel Calling event that took place prior to the Eurovision competition. The singer was awarded first place with the song "Toy" and became the fourth winner from Israel.
Rabin Square, Tel Aviv
10 April 2018
Long Exposure
1st prize
Series
Long exposure
Gili Benita
A year’s follow-up of the organization Save a Child’s Heart, an Israeli humanitarian organization that offers life-saving medical treatment to children from developing countries who suffer from congenital heart disease. Since the organization was founded, 4,800 children from 58 countries, whose fate was sealed, were treated and were able return to their countries.
Wolfson Medical Center, the Save a Child’s Heart children’s home, Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute in Dares Salaam, Tanzania
2017-2018
2nd prize
Series
Long exposure
Inbal Cohen Hamo
Over the past year, Star, my 17-year-old son, has been undergoing a physical and mental process. The understanding that his female body does not befit him became increasingly clear to him from early adolescence. Star chose a masculine appearance, in which he feels more comfortable, and defines himself a genderqueer - an identity somewhere between male and female. Today, after surgery, he feels more at home with himself and his body, but is still searching for his place in the world.
Raanana
June-August 2018
3rd prize
Series
Long exposure
Reuters
Amir Cohen
Tens of descendants of Australian and New Zealand soldiers, who freed Beersheba from the Ottoman Empire a hundred years ago, reconstruct the battle that took place during the World War I.
Northern Negev
29-30 October, 2017
Video
Ohad Milstein
About ten years ago Dr. Lev Pustilnik founded a laboratory for cosmic radiation on the top of snowcapped Mount Hermon. The laboratory studies cosmic storms in space and on the sun and their effect on the weather on planet Earth. Pustilnik carries out his research in a spaceship-shaped caravan, in cold weather and harsh winds, with the help of a collection of electronic instruments that he brought with him from Russia.
Top of Mount Hermon
May 2018
Roee Edan
Every winter flocks of starlings arrive in Israel, and display magnificent aerodynamics.
Northern Negev
2012-2018
Ariel Bernstein
A journey to myself: wanderings in Israel’s periphery generates exacting personal memories; a search for a sense of unity between the environmental and the inner world.
Tel Aviv, Khan al-Ahmar, the area of the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea
July 2018
Ahikam Seri
People wounded in the civil war in Syria crossing the border under the cover of darkness in order to receive medical aid in Israel.
Golan Heights
27 October 2017
Rotem Pesachovish Paz
The news on Channel Kan 11 broadcasted a split screen showing the Palestinian demonstrations at the border in the Gaza Strip and the opening ceremony of the US Embassy in Jerusalem that took place at the same time.
14 May 2018