High Risk Classification
Israel, 2016 – 2017
The idea of this series came to me at the time of the last war in Israel. The siren was howling, and I entered the bomb shelter with my son, but we did not have time to close the shelter window. We stood just in front of this window when the rocket blew up. It was so close that we felt a blast on our faces. Later, I will find out that the blast debris fell on a playground in our neighborhood. But then, I grabbed my son reflexively and protected him with my body. At that moment, the only thing I wanted was to seize him with both hands and catch the next flight to New Zealand or wherever else, far away from this place where blast debris falls on the playgrounds.
At that very moment, I realised that in a few years my own son would be the soldier who would have to protect me with his body, either literally or metaphorically. But what will be different in three or four years? For me, he will still be the child he is now.
“Your series is not only for people that live in Israel. it is for all the people of the world who are constantly living with the threat of war or with the prospect of sending their children to a fight. From Israel to the United States and from Gaza to Syria and Ukraine and in any other part of the world. It is a global and timeless fear for every family.”
Awards & exhibitions
2017 Prix de la Photographie, Paris. Honorable Mention