Orchard Trail

A few years ago I began creating pictures each and every day. I didn¹t plan them; they were not constructed. I simply picked up my camera and responded to the world as it appeared before me. The process was like keeping a visual journal. After a few years of working this way, I gathered up all the images and studied them; really looked. I realized that subconsciously, I had been photographing my childhood. The pictures before me held deep memories of curiosity, of innocence and wonder. They recalled a child, me, wandering through the back yard, exploring moments like the sound of a tree, a bird in the sky. I grew up in a small town in Israel, full of orange, avocado and mango orchards; even its name, Pardes Chana², means Chana's Orchard. I can recall neighbors stopping by with mangos and getting some of our avocados in exchange, kids wandering over to the next-door-neighbors for story time or a piano lesson. I remember going with my father to pick oranges from our orchard. In my more recent works, I have been exploring the use of diptychs as a tool and framework for a deeper, more textured approach to my subjects. By using the doubling aspect, I am able to compare, contrast and perhaps even change the viewers’ reading of each photo, as they play off of one another thematically and visually. Just as memories change subtly as we suddenly recall additional details, the addition of a second, accompanying photograph, may provide the clue needed to unlock the picture. When I look at the photographs collected in this project I am reminded of who I truly am.