Was it a Dream

Born in Israel in 1984, raised by an American mother and an Israeli father. When I was 12 years old my father told me that I have an older brother named James, who lives in Australia. My father and James at the point have been sending each other letters for a number of years, however they have yet to meet or hear one another’s voice. Uncomfortable being the eldest grandchild on both sides of my family, I became obsessed with the possibility of an older brother. I never had the chance to meet James, he committed suicide in October 1996. This work is my attempt to create a portrait of my brother whom I will never meet. When photographing the “Unphotographable” , by following the traces and echos of ones existence after his passing. Thanks to the Tierney Fellowship I received in 2009, I traveled across Australia to meet James's family, who thankfully accepted me as one of their own. The work I created consists of family snapshots, letters and quotes from conversations, alongside my own images taken in Israel and Australia.