Cypresses (2005)

 

Dark Trees

In contrast to ancient Arabic olive trees, I begun to take photographs of cypresses in Israel, unlike the fading photographs of the olives, the images of the cypress are dark and present, marking the land and often were planted by Israelis in commemoration of soldiers who lost their lives in wars.

The cypress and the olives are the two metaphorical opposites formally as well as ideologically; they could be seen as representing the friction between two cultures, between the new and the old, the masculine and the feminine.

 

White Wash

As part of the desire of the Israeli’s to bloom the desert, cypresses were planted in harsh conditions. The lack of water and the sever climate soond in the way of the natural growth and as a results the trees are under developed and frail.

The photographs of the cypresses in the Negev desert are almost transparent. The fragile trees are battling with the wind and the results are translucent marks of human history on nature.