The Quest for the Man on the White Donkey

As per the Orthodox Jewish tradition, the Messiah (the Prophet) will arrive riding a white donkey.

A few years ago, as I was photographing near the Dead Sea, a Palestinian man rode past me on his white donkey and I took a picture of him.

It was after having developed this plate that I realized that I had encountered my "Messiah;" it was this chance encounter which brought me to initiate the body of work that carries the name: The Quest for the Man on the White Donkey.

The American tradition of the great photographic journeys served as a blueprint for the intial phase of my quest, with the definitive difference that in such a small country as Israel the size of the territory in which my hunt was pursued necessarily differed from my predecessors. A condensed experience. What in any other country should have been a photographic journey spanning months of continuous traveling was inevitably reduced because no matter what destination I chose it always brought me back home by midnight at the latest. As I found myself passing through the same places over and over again, the personal identity of my project was revealed to me; I had to let go of the idea of narrating the physical journey itself and concentrate on the intimate, emotional reactions that these places evoked in me; I focused on trying to understand how I was reacting to the occasional encounters with people and scenery, and how those people and the scenary appeared to be revealed or lost at the same time, as if they were part of a scene that was ever changing or not changing at all.

As my messenger started to reveal the "message," the search for deeper understanding of my country and what defines me as an Israeli became an urge to look for the in-between places, the unexpected situations; suddenly a detail requested my attention as I stood for hours waiting for a meaning to reveal itself, or pushed me away, puzzled. But in the end I had to hold on to it. I could not let go until that dtail was made mine, until the elusive and enigmatic found their place in my understanding of what I deemed as an authentic, real encounter.

In Israel I feel that the evidence of the past is strongly intertwined with the marks of the present and the questions about our future. This is why it is sometimes possible to see the past, present and future revealed in front of one's eyes at the same time.

Part of my identity as an Israeli is to question everything, not to take anything for granted, to show the tensions that constanly exist, to convey the truth behind the reality.

Religious, social aspects filter into everyday life and their meanings are revealed as the journey moves on. Jewish missionaries, lost souls and indiviuals living on the fringe of society, all blend into this landscape of humanity.

Yaakov Israel was born in 1974 in Jerusalem, where he lives and works.

He graduated in 2002 (BFA) with honors from the Department of Photography at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem. Following his graduation he received a scholarship from the Academy for an additional year of research. In his work he constantly investigates the Israeli identity as perceived through architecture, landscape and the people living in his country. He finds that he is drawn to document places that are from one point of view characteristic of the Israeli landscape but on the other hand are not noticeable to most.

"As a person who takes an interest in my surroundings I find that I return again and again to the same places, and these places and their inhabitants have become vital parts of my biography." His work has been the subject of solo and group shows which were exhibited in museums and galleries in Israel and internationally.

Since 2004 he has been teaching photography at some of the most prominent Art and Photography schools and colleges in Israel.