| For Israeli photographer Sharon Ya’ari, the
landscape is not really a
landscape; there is nothing concrete in it that justifies photographing
it, except for some minor human activity that has no rules, and
no function. The places Ya’ari photographs are completely
ordinary, and since they are transitory, the human activity in them
is transitory, exposing their absurdity
The episodes that Ya’ari photographs are fleeting; this is
mainly a function of how long it takes to photograph them. However,
it is also due to the pessimism he feels as he travels, choosing
to stop at the most meager spots. The human activity in these locations
begs to be interpreted. In all of these works, political significance
exists as a metaphor, not as part of the narrative
The banality, the interim places he chooses are charged with meaning
by the independent, internal reality that exists when he photographs
them. The time it takes to photograph, and Ya_ari_s presence in
a place, give the photograph meaning - even more than the occurrence
itself.
Selected solo exhibitions: 2001: Lombard-Freid, New
York; 2000: Sommer Contemporary, Tel Aviv; 1999: Museum of Art, Herzylia,
Israel.
Selected group exhibitions: 2000: Aspiration, RIFFE,
Columbus, Ohio/ Buenos Aires; Contemporary Landscape, MoCA, Roskilde/
Denmark & Trondheim Kunstferning, Oslo; 1999: Surveying the Lanscape,
Lombard-Freid, New York; 1998: Condition Report, Photography in Israel
today, Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Habitation, Museum of Art, Herzylia. |