| London photographic exhibition explores Israel’s past
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David Ben Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister, on the beach of Herzliyah.
Photo: Paul Goldman
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A unique photographic exhibition celebrating the work of two giants of Israeli photojournalism is being held in London. Eretz Yisrael: Birth of a Nation captures the work of photographers David Rubinger and Paul Goldman.
The exhibition, at the Sony Ericsson sponsored Proud Gallery in Camden, north-west London, illustrates both joyful and tragic moments in Jewish history from Holocaust survivors to the declaration of the State of Israel.
It includes more than 150 iconic pictures that mark decisive moments and the key personalities from Israel’s history.
Over the years, the two photographers earned the trust of key figures in Israel’s history such as Golda Meir, David Ben Gurion, Moshe Dayan, Yitzchak Rabin, Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon.
Rubinger, who was awarded the Israel Prize in 1997, the highest civilian honour given by the State of Israel, in recognition of his dedication to telling the story of a nation, for his contribution to journalism, attended last week’s launch along with deputy Israeli Ambassador Zvi Ravner and a host of Jewish community leaders.
Iconic images
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Israeli soldiers at the Western Wall during the Six Day War
Photo: David Rubinger | Now 81, Rubinger was born in Vienna and emigrated to Israel, then Palestine, in 1939. In 1942 he joined the British Forces in Palestine. After Israel’s War of Independence he began freelancing for local papers. Then in 1954 Time magazine published two of his pictures and he became a Time Contract photographer, a position he holds to this day.
Living through seven wars, Rubinger witnessed the birth of a nation, the title of his famous work published in 1988. In 1967 he shot the image that became his signature and one of the most famous images in Israel’s history - the three paratroopers standing in awe in front of the recaptured Wailing Wall.
In 1977 he accompanied Begin on his peace mission to Egypt to meet President Sadat. He has also photographed American Presidents Carter and Reagan as well as celebrities from the entertainment world such as Frank Sinatra and Luciano Pavarotti.
Hungarian maestro
Paul Goldman died before he gained the respect, admiration and recognition his fine work merits. Born in Budapest in 1900, he arrived in Israel, then Palestine, in 1940. He was interned, as an ‘illegal immigrant’, in Atlit, near Haifa then he enlisted in the British Army.
Wounded in battle he was honourably discharged in 1943 and began his photographic career. He recorded many of the most crucial moments during the British Mandate - the immigrant transit camps, the Jewish settlements, the arrival of Holocaust survivors, the War of Independence and ‘Operation Magic Carpet’ that brought the Jews of Yemen to Israel.
His meticulously kept achieves holds some 40,000 negatives dating from 1943 till 1965. Goldman’s most famous shot is of David Ben Gurion doing a headstand on Herzlia beach in 1957. However, most of his pictures were published without crediting his name and as a result, made their way into the national pantheon in almost total anonymity.
Goldman died in 1986. The first exhibition of his work took place in Tel Aviv in 2001. It has subsequently toured New York and Miami.
Kate Boenigk, a spokesperson for the Proud Gallery, said, “Eretz Israel: Birth of a Nation is essential viewing for anyone with an interest in world politics and, above all, is great photojournalism. Israel has been dominated, since its foundation, by the struggle between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Goldman and Rubinger document a period of dramatic change in the country.”
The exhibition runs until 2 April 2006. Entry is free
For more info log on to www.proud.co.uk
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