Olivier Fitoussi, Flash 90
Local Testimony 2020
Gallery
2020
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 2020
Dana Wohlfeiler-Lalkin, founder and director
Local testimony is an annual photo-journalism and documentary photography exhibition, which was first showcased in 2003. The exhibition gives a platform that underscores the cultural qualities of local professional documentary photography and hence demonstrates its social significance. This form of photography expresses a complex aspect of the human experience, which is not fully exposed in the main media channels.
Local Testimony is not only a photography exhibition; it is also a social, cultural and theoretical event, which points beyond the photographed images to the structures of power of Israeli politics. The exhibition wishes to strengthen a journalistic and documentary investigative action that is true to a freedom of expression, which can transcend interests of editing, rating or any other interest that serve crony capitalism.
The images that make up Local Testimony 2020 reflect a society in crisis. A year that is crazy in so many aspects; this period seems to have become a local and global turning point, in the wake of which the world will never look the same. Photographs of social distancing, side by side with photographs of solidarity in a state of division, rage and loss of trust.
Perhaps Covid-19 pushed us to the edge, or perhaps it just helped expose a long-rooted ailment. It seems that we will long continue to feel the effects of this year’s story, as it is revealed through the photographs of Local Testimony 2020, which will become, I hope, symbols of a struggle for justice, fraternity and pride.
This year’s exhibition is deeply important. This was a culturally arid year, and these photos immortalize one of the most historically significant periods for humanity.
I would like to express my deep gratitude to Midtown, owned by Israel Canada, which have sponsored the Local Testimony project this year. Midtown have fashioned, especial for us, a unique and original outdoor museum, adapted to the complexity of our times, thereby making it possible for us to open our exhibition to the public. Thus, Midtown supports the tradition of this exhibition while also strengthening cultural life in these difficult times.
I would like to thank the photographers, who exhibited exceptional bravery in exposing themselves to the virus in order to bring us images of this period, from the hospital units, demonstrations, protests and clashes with the security forces.
I would like to thank the jury, who came together and worked tirelessly to try and make the impossible choice of selecting the pictures of the year from among the thousands of photographs sent to us by the dedicated photographers.
Beyond the Mask
Eldad Rafaeli, Curator, Local Testimony 2020
A crumpled mask, a glazed look, a heavy breath.
Photography, which is fashioned on the direct gaze, on peering into the windows of the soul, has encountered a barrier.
Beyond the mask the voice is muffled and unclear, the lump in the throat grows bigger, tears fill the eyes. The picture of reality becomes blurry, for the photographers as well as for their subjects. How do we focus the gaze? How do we find the accurate angle? How can we move through the lockdown?
Many artists have attempted to offer us interpretations for this changing world. Furnished with a press card that made it possible for them to move freely, the photojournalists traveled across the infected land, exposed to the extreme and even bizarre change of the landscape we have grown accustomed to seeing. The loss of personal space, alongside social distancing and a cultural rift, blend into political intrigue, a raging plague and an immense economic crisis. And above the clear signs, there drifts a deceptive uncertainty, which disseminates infinite
question marks, wreaking us with confusion.
By the very virtue of its role as a historian of its time, Local Testimony 2020 finds itself fashioning a communal film of life in Israel in the shadow of the plague. The exhibition moves from a birds-eye-view of the events towards a focus on details. Drones watch from the outside over the empty cities, the erupting nature, and the demonstrations, while the photographers on ground document the corruption, animosity, home, and relationships.
Social, economic and existential anxiety plagues so many people, among them many photographers and artists who have lost their source of income.
Local Testimony holds each and every one of them the highest esteem, and hopes they keep the flame of creativity alive. The emphasis in this year’s works is the transition from focused journalistic photography of a single event, to an ongoing, complex personal photography. We hope that art continues to light the way for us and that photography will continue show us the picture, even beyond the mask.
Photo of the year
Tomer Appelbaum
Haaretz
The Black Flag protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and governmental corruption during the COVID-19 pandemic; the demonstrators maintained a distance of two meters from one another.
Rabin Square, Tel Aviv
April 19, 2020
Series of the Year
Itzik Sonnenstein
Patient 185, COVID-19 routine, personal documentation.
April 19, 2020
Rabin Square, Tel Aviv
News
1st prize
Single
News
Flash 90
Yonatan Sindel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, surrounded by Likud ministers and Knesset members, before entering the courtroom for the opening of his trial.
The District Court, Jerusalem
May 24, 2020
2nd prize
Single
News
AP
Oded Balilty
A demonstrator facing security forces during a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Paris Square, Jerusalem
July 18, 2020
3rd prize
Single
News
Reuters
Ammar Awad
Police arresting Kosta Black, one of the protest leaders, during a demonstration against the government's handling of the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tel Aviv
July 11, 2020
1st prize
Series
News
Flash 90
Yaniv Nadav
Protests against governmental corruption, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Paris Square, Balfour Street, Bezalel Street, Jerusalem
July 17 - August 8, 2020
2nd prize
Series
News
Eli Attias
Body tremors and a high pulse are two of the coronavirus symptoms. Documentation from the COVID-19 wards at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital.
Jerusalem
April 2 - 6, 2020
3rd prize
Series
News
DPA
Ilya Yefimovich
Thousands of male and female demonstrators, from diverse backgrounds and all sides of the political spectrum, protest outside the Prime Minister’s residence, calling for his resignation.
Central Jerusalem
July 2020
Single
News
Oren Ben Hakoon
Israel Hayom
A demonstrator dressed as Moses during the dispersal of protesters using water jets fired from a police water cannon.
Agron Street, Jerusalem
July 22, 2020
Single
News
Ohad Zwigenberg
Haaretz
COVID-19 restrictions require members of the Burial Society (Chevra Kadisha) to wear special protective suits during the purification ritual before burial.
Shamgar Funeral Home, Jerusalem
April 1, 2020
Single
News
Flash 90
Olivier Fitoussi
Israel Police dispersing demonstrators with a water cannon at the end of a Saturday night protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Paris Square.
Jerusalem
July 26, 2020
Society and Community
1st prize
Single
Society and community
Dancho Arnon
חג המים בקיבוץ רמת יוחנן נערך על פי שניים ממייסדי הקיבוץ, המלחין מתתיהו שלם והכוריאוגראפית לאה ברגשטיין.
Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan
October 13, 2019
2nd prize
Single
Society and community
Miki (Michael) Schauder
Demonstrators taking cover from water jets fired from water cannons.
Agron Street, Jerusalem
July 24, 2020
3rd prize
Single
Society and community
Ohad Zwigenberg
Rana, mother of Iyad al-Hallaq, being interviewed in her home. Her son, a young Arab man on the autistic spectrum, was fatally shot by a Border Police officer.
East Jerusalem
May 30, 2020
1st prize
Series
Society and community
Esther Haliye
In the wake of police brutality and excessive arrests (profiling) that resulted in fatalities, Israelis of Ethiopian descent fear going out in public. The photos show family members and protest activists near locations where community members were harmed.
Kiryat Haim, Bat Yam, Holon, Binyamina Quarry
June - July 2020
2nd prize
Series
Society and community
Avigail Uzi
Yedioth Ahronoth
Lockdown. Prohibited from leaving the house beyond a distance of one hundred meters. At-risk populations were advised not to go out at all or meet with family members. The days of isolation and anxiety of the first COVID-19 wave.
Throughout Israel
March 20 - 31, 2020
3rd prize
Series
Society and community
Yasmin Lahav
Seen and Unseen, Summer 2020. A portrait of social workers fighting for their employment conditions.
Kiryat Tiv'on, Ramat Yishai, Sde Ya'akov, Sha'ar HaAmakim
July - August 2020
Religion and Faith
1st prize
Single
Religion and faith
Guy Aloni
The slaughterer of the Mea Shearim neighborhood at dawn on the eve of Yom Kippur. The Kapparot ritual arouses significant criticism, including among rabbis.
Jerusalem
October 8, 2019
2nd prize
Single
Religion and faith
AP
Ariel Schalit
Men and women from the United States, Germany, Denmark, and Romania, trained to work as Santa Claus, floating in the Dead Sea during a visit to the Holy Land.
The Dead Sea
January 7, 2020
3rd prize
Single
Religion and faith
Doron Talmi
Inauguration of the first section of the subterranean burial site 'Tunnels of the World' (Minharot Olam), intended to solve the shortage of burial plots in Jerusalem. The tunnels will contain approximately 24,000 graves.
Har HaMenuchot (Mount of Rest), Jerusalem
October 30, 2019
1st prize
Series
Religion and faith
Uri Levi
Surrealistic scenes on the streets of Bnei Brak during the Purim holiday.
Bnei Brak
March 10, 2020
2nd prize
Series
Religion and faith
Stav Tzur
The building of Bikur Cholim Hospital remains empty and abandoned. The deserted building is currently leased to Yeshivat Orayta, a Hasidic yeshiva for older boys, who reside there in makeshift accommodation adapted to their needs.
Jerusalem
November 2019 - April 2020
Single
Religion and faith
Haim Yafim Berblat
Once a year, the monks at the Mar Saba Monastery, a Greek Orthodox monastery, commemorate the death of the monastery's founder, Saint Sabas. The monks light hundreds of candles in his memory, illuminating the desert.
Judean Desert
December 17, 2019
Single
Religion and faith
Ohad Zwigenberg
Haaretz
On Epiphany (The Feast of Theophany), thousands of pilgrims flock to the traditional baptism site Qasr al-Yahud on the Jordan River, north of the Dead Sea, and perform traditional baptism ceremonies.
Qasr al-Yahud
January 18, 2020
Single
Religion and faith
Ohad Zwigenberg
Haaretz
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only a few participated in the Adloyada (Purim Parade) this year.
Hebron
March 10, 2020
Single
Religion and faith
EPA
Abir Sultan
The Kapparot Ritual
Beit Shemesh
October 6, 2019
Single
Religion and faith
Chaim Goldberg
Kikar HaShabbat
Due to a fire that broke out in the Mea Shearim neighborhood, children of the Toldos Aharon Hasidic group were evacuated from their study building.
Jerusalem
November 5, 2019
Single
Religion and faith
Liel Steinberg
Children looking through a window during the lockdown.
Bnei Brak
March 2020
Nature and Environment
1st prize
Single
Nature and environment
Yoel Robert Assayag
A flock of sheep gathering during feeding time.
Near Kibbutz Ramot Menashe
July 25, 2020
2nd prize
Single
Nature and environment
Gil Eliyahu Benyamin
The IDF reinforces its troops on the Syrian and Lebanese borders following Hezbollah's threat to avenge the death of an organization operative in an attack near Damascus attributed to Israel.
Northern Golan Heights
July 27, 2020
3rd prize
Single
Nature and environment
Eric Sultan
A cargo ship that drifted ashore on a stormy night.
Mai Ami Beach, Ashdod
December 27, 2019
1st prize
Series
Nature and environment
Lior Fattal
In 2004, the Electrochemical Industries plant closed due to a fire. The structure remains abandoned to this day. The plant used hazardous materials, such as mercury, which led to severe illnesses among workers. Legal battles are still ongoing regarding soil contamination, sea pollution, and responsibility for cleaning up the complex.
South of Acre
January 27, 2020
2nd prize
Series
Nature and environment
Ofer Vaknin
Haaretz
During the initial weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown, Yarkon Park emptied of visitors. Consequently, hungry jackals began gathering in large groups. Lacking the food scraps typically left behind by park visitors, the jackals were forced to eat the fruits of the Ficus trees and attempted to hunt pigeons.
Tel Aviv
March - April 2020
3rd prize
Series
Nature and environment
Alexander Bronfer
The field near the house, the only place we went during the first COVID-19 lockdown, became an entire world in my son Biny's imagination.
Kfar Saba Fields
March - June 2020
Single
Nature and environment
Ohad Zwigenberg
Haaretz
Wild boars no longer content themselves with their natural habitats, and now forage for food in the city streets and home gardens.
Haifa
April 11, 2020
Single
Nature and environment
Alexander Bronfer
A migrant worker from Sudan taking a mud bath at Ein Bokek Beach.
The Dead Sea
July 10, 2020
Single
Nature and environment
Ricky Loisman
During the COVID-19 lockdown, the snapdragon plants finished blooming. Small “skulls” of seed pods swayed in the wind, reflecting the fear sown among the public.
Ra'anana
August 5, 2020
Series
Nature and environment
Flash 90
Yaniv Nadav
The "Deal of the Century," a peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump and published in January 2020, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the settlements and pushed the Right to immediately annex the Jordan Valley. In exchange for the normalization agreement with the United Arab Emirates, published in August, Israel postponed the annexation plan.
The Jordan Valley
2017 - 2020
Series
Nature and environment
Eli Attias
Remnants of battlefields stretch across a beautiful and fascinating region.
The Golan Heights
November 2019
Sport
1st prize
Single
sport
Yuval Daniel
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, public entry to sports fields was prohibited, so fans came to offer support from the outside. Hapoel Tel Aviv fans on the fences of the Khodorov Complex (Hapoel Tel Aviv's training grounds), watching a practice match against Hapoel Ashkelon.
Tel Aviv
May 19, 2020
2nd prize
Single
sport
Daniel Roleider
Tomi Livnon climbing the 'Climb Free' route, currently the highest-rated climbing route in Israel (9a).
Nezer Cave, near the Lebanese border
June 27, 2020
3rd prize
Single
sport
Omri Gutman
Dmitry Kroyter, the Israeli high jumper, at the Israeli Athletics Championships.
Hadart Yosef Athletics Stadium, Tel Aviv
July 28, 2020
1st prize
Series
sport
Bartzi Goldblat
Athletes from the Olympic and Paralympic delegations who were preparing for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Throughout Israel
April - May 2020
2nd prize
Series
sport
Uri Levi
Youth from Jisr az-Zarqa, members of a social surfing club, going out for a surf session.
Jisr az-Zarqa Beach
June - July 2020
3rd prize
Series
sport
Tal Heres
Athletes without limits despite disabilities.
Throughout Israel
May 31 - July 4, 2020
Single
sport
Oren Ziv
Local Call
Workers from India playing cricket in a parking lot on Saturday.
South Tel Aviv
May 16, 2020
Single
sport
Omri Gutman
A surfer at sunset.
Disabled Beach, Herzliya
May 6, 2020
Single
sport
Gilad Topaz
The basketball courts at the Sportek.
Tel Aviv
May 24, 2020
Urbanism and Culture
1st prize
Single
Urbanism and culture
Ilan Ben Yehuda
A young man, a dog, and a gymnast in Charles Clore Park.
Tel-Aviv
June 29, 2020
2nd prize
Single
Urbanism and culture
Getty Images
Guy Prives
Following the COVID-19 restrictions and the closure of bars, many young people arrived at Dizengoff Square equipped with drinks from home. This unique situation created a new culture, which continued even after the bars reopened.
Tel Aviv
May 18, 2020
3rd prize
Single
Urbanism and culture
Avishag Shaar-Yashuv
Haaretz
Avigail Kovari, singer and actress, starring in the television series Matir Agunot (The Unchained).
Arsuf Cliffs
October 20, 2019
1st prize
Series
Urbanism and culture
Lior Horesh
The Human Experience.
In this series, the subjects were stripped of their distinguishing features and recast into situations that reflect an elusive, alienated, and surprising experience of existence, moving between identity, loneliness, alienation, meaning, and confusion.
Throughout Israel
2018 - 2020
2nd prize
Series
Urbanism and culture
Eli Attias
Ground Opening Up. The Navy base and Egged bus parking lot in Ein Gedi were evacuated due to the formation of sinkholes.
The Dead Sea
January 2020 and August 2020
3rd prize
Series
Urbanism and culture
Guy Yahalomi
In preparation for Passover, Tel Aviv, the "Non-Stop City," came to a halt following the imposition of a lockdown.
Tel Aviv
April 2020
Single
Urbanism and culture
Eric Sultan
For Makor Rishon
Gabriel Moked, writer, critic, and literary editor, reminiscing at his home about his friend Nathan Alterman, on the 50th anniversary of Alterman's passing.
Tel Aviv
February 23, 2020
Single
Urbanism and culture
Ilan Ben Yehuda
Tradition, fashion, and a Disney heroine.
Tel Aviv Port
October 20, 2019
Single
Urbanism and culture
Eli Bazri
The face of the renewing city. Giant sheets cover a building under renovation.
Herzl Street, Tel Aviv
June 22, 2020
Single
Culture and art
Kadya Levy
A street artist in Nahariya, following a flood of the Ga'aton River. In 2020, Israel was hit by floods, and Nahariya was severely affected and suffered extensive destruction.
Nahariya
January 23, 2020
Single
Urbanism and culture
Ilan Ben Yehuda
A shopping tour in the Carmel Market at the end of the lockdown period.
Tel Aviv
May 13, 2020
Single
Urbanism and culture
Shimi Cohen
Personal stories in tattoos.
The International Tattoo Convention, Expo Tel Aviv
November 15, 2019
Long Exposure
1st prize
Series
Long exposure
Doron Nissim
The Western Border Fence.
The western border fence with Egypt was erected in 2011 to stop the wave of migration from Africa into Israel. Following the attack on Route 12, which occurred that same year, the fence was extended to the Eilat Mountains. The fence brought about a dramatic security, civilian, and environmental change, transforming from an open area, through which the last refugees entered, into a landscape scarred by a dense, six-meter-high iron fence and concertina wire.
Israel-Egypt border, between Eilat and Mount Sagav
February 2012 - April 2020
2nd prize
Series
Long exposure
Gili Yaari
And Ten Years Later.
After ten years, I returned to photograph at the Holocaust Survivors' Hostel, located within the Sha'ar Menashe Psychiatric Hospital. Marking the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz then, to mark the 75th anniversary now.
Sha'ar Menashe Psychiatric Hospital
2020 - 2010
3rd prize
Series
Long exposure
Daniel Tchetchik
Maybe It’s a Sign.
During the first COVID-19 lockdown, businesses froze their outdoor advertising; the public space became filled with black rectangles.
Gush Dan (Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area)
March - April 2020
Series
Long exposure
Dani Hadas
Training Ground.
Explosions are heard and dust clouds rise from the army's training fields. The area, like a movie set, is littered with blown-up buildings, ripped aircraft, and destroyed cars. Ruin and destruction; a prelude to the worst of all.
The Southern Negev
2012 - 2020
Series
Long exposure
Vered Sadot
Zooming.
In a world of pandemic, lockdown, travel restrictions, and isolation, the transition to the screen was rapid. Zoom calls replaced personal meetings; photography became a realistic environment, an essential tool for coping with changes and surviving under conditions of social distancing.
Jerusalem, London, Italy
March - May 2020
Series
Long exposure
Mor Elnakaveh
Until Death Do Us Part.
Wedding photographs are expected to represent a sweet fantasy that does not necessarily correspond to reality. The camera is perceived as an objective tool that tells the truth, but in this work, the flash reveals only parts of reality, leaving the rest in the darkness of the viewer's imagination. In this space, between reality and imagination, the stories that observers tell themselves unfold.
Throughout Israel
2011 - 2020
Series
Long exposure
Contact Press Image
Kobi Wolf
Susan Greene, a Jewish American activist artist, and children from Silwan painted goldfinches, symbolizing freedom, and giant eyes on the walls. The eyes look toward the west of the city, demanding: "We are here, see us." Most of the painted eyes belong to social activists looking from the neighborhood toward Jerusalem and the adjacent City of David. The paintings provided employment for the children, added color and life to the neglected neighborhood, and drew attention to the process of home evictions and Jewish settlement in the area, led by the Ateret Cohanim organization in the Arab neighborhood.
Silwan Neighborhood, Wadi Hilweh, East Jerusalem
2019 - 2020
Video
Asaf Shafir
You cannot stop a revolution whose time has come.
In July 2020, Brigadier General (Res.) Amir Haskel was arrested outside the Prime Minister’s residence on Balfour Street. His arrest was widely perceived as political and anti-democratic, intended to suppress the protests. The arrest ignited the "Balfour Protests" and spurred young people to action, demanding a revolution. Balfour became a pilgrimage site for all protest groups demanding the Prime Minister's resignation due to the serious indictments against him, his failure to handle the coronavirus pandemic, and his rhetoric against government institutions, the court, the police, and the prosecution.
Tel Aviv and Jerusalem
July - August 2020
Ben Shani and Uriel Sinai
4 Minutes. Mom and Dad.
Director Ben Shani visits his parents, Miriam and Ze'ev Shani, moments before they are left alone for the Seder night, during the peak of the COVID-19 lockdown. He returned from the visit with things that are only said on such a Passover Eve, and also with some food for the holiday.
Tel Aviv
April 5, 2020
Directed by: Ben Shani
Ronit Ziv
Like a Chicken.
On the eve of Independence Day, a terrible murder occurred; and when they said 'woman' on television, I called to ask her name. Mastawal Alaza, was the answer. The event led to a volunteer project in which 40 dancers joined me in protest. A woman shall not be slaughtered like a chicken. When we die, we have no face; when we live, we have no protection.
Filmed at the Dancers' Home
May 2020
Artistic Direction, Production, and Editing: Ronit Ziv
Sarina Rozner
Land.
A short personal documentary attempting to grapple with the director's identity as a settler. The film raises questions about free will versus the choices of parents and home education, queries concerning belonging and identity, and examines the essence and purpose of life in the geographical and mental space into which she was born.
Ma'ale Mikhmas and Binyamin, Judea and Samaria
March - July 2020
Ohad Milstein
Paradise, 2020.
What goes through a child's mind? How does he see the world? During the summer, before starting first grade, Ohad Milstein held whispered conversations with his son, Alva, between wakefulness and sleep. A journey into the contemplations of an innocent child, before the body falls asleep.
Vals, Switzerland; Lower Galilee, Israel
2019
Itai Raziel and Nir Weiss
Creating in Another Reality (Yotzrim B'Metziut Acheret).
Immediately upon the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis, I began documenting this unique period. The lockdown and movement restrictions (to only one hundred meters) made it difficult for me to create comprehensive documentation. I turned to documentary photographers and asked them to also document their immediate surroundings, in an attempt to present a broad picture of the impact of the coronavirus on them, their families, and the public sphere.
Israel
March 2020
In partnership with: Nir Weiss (Direction and Editing)
Itai Raziel and Jeremy Portnoy
The Bastille Day Protest at Balfour.
The first large-scale protest of the year, held on Balfour Street in front of the Prime Minister's residence, was scheduled for the historic date of July 14th – Bastille Day in France. The use of the song Ein Li Eretz Acheret (I Have No Other Country), combined with the sounds of the revolution song from the Place de la Bastille in 1790, created the intended parallel.
In front of the Prime Minister’s Residence, Jerusalem
July 14, 2020
In partnership with: Jeremy Portnoy (Direction, Photography, and Editing)
Song: Ein Li Eretz Acheret (I Have No Other Country)
Lyrics: Ehud Manor z"l
Performed and Composed by: Corinne Allal
Courtesy of NMC United Entertainment Ltd.
La Prise de la Bastille (Chant révolutionnaire française 1790)
Chen Leopold
You Will Not Silence Me.
Demonstrators confront the harsh rhetoric directed against them. Despite the tens of thousands of protesters, the criminally indicted Prime Minister, his spokespeople, ministers, and associates are attempting to tendentiously diminish the scale of the protest. They do this across all media channels and from the Knesset podium by labeling the protest as left-wing, turning the right to protest into anarchy, disrespecting and mocking the demonstrators, and falsely accusing them of violence.
Paris Square, Balfour Street, and King George Street, Jerusalem
July - August 2020