(JEWISH GROUP) 'Hinenu': Ex-Bay Area man's camera reflects Israel's diversity in 100 portraits
David Shlachter was looking for a project. A Mill Valley real estate investor and avid surfer, he was preparing to spend a few years in Israel with his family and was seeking a creative outlet. So he started to think.
The result is “Hinenu: Israel at Ten Million,” a book of Shlachter’s photography published last month by Gefen.
His book, whose Hebrew title means “Here we are,” is a portrait of Israel, both on a macro and a micro level. Shlachter took the most recent census data for Israel and shot portraits to match, so that the overall book of 100 people mirrors the picture of modern Israel across many categories: 49% women, 12% living in Haifa, 9% age 50-59, 17% Muslim and so on.
But the photos also come with stories. Shlachter interviewed each subject for the book — people like Ahlam Alkean, a young Bedouin whose life was saved when she obtained a heart transplant, and changed again when she met the family of the donor. Or Daniel Imaran, an Ethiopian Jew who left gang life and organized crime for a career in modeling.
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