Rachel the poetess - Israeli icon

 

Being a fashion photographer here in Israel, has

led me to look for the special characteristics of the country

My latest fashion shoot was inspired by an Israeli icon

Rachel the poetess - Rachel Bluwstein, 1890-1931.

Rachel came from Russia at the beginning of the 20th century and lived a tragic life, near the sea of Galilee and in Tel -Aviv.

Her idealistic and sometimes bohemian lifestyle as a Zionist was ended at an early age, by a dramatic disease - Tuberculosis.
   

Ideal material for an Israeli fashion photographer .

The image of Rachel has fascinated me for a long time, and since one of my aims is to promote Israeli style I decided to do a fashion story around her .

First I had to choose between Tel -Aviv and the Sea of Galilee/Kineret

Both are beautiful and interesting visually.

Tel Aviv with it's white Bauhaus buildings on the Mediterranean and the blue Sea of Galilee with it's black basalt rock houses .

As a photographer I thought that taking the pictures on a roof in T-A would be more surprising and dramatic visually, less of a story telling this time and more of a dramatic visual statement. So I went to look for a roof.

I had actually found the room on the roof at 5 Bugrashov Street, where Rachel has spent her last days, but since it had been renovated poorly, I couldn't use it.

I took from there an old chair though, imagining that perhaps it was hers.

Since the roofs of Tel Aviv are tarred and then whitewashed which imprints wonderful abstract designs, I looked all over Tel Aviv for a suitable roof setting. I even contacted the tarring companies in order to get addresses from them.

Many of the old buildings of Tel Aviv are four storied without lifts, so I ended up walking up and then down many flights of stairs until I found the one most suitable.

Of course this happened to be one just around the corner from my studio in Jaffa. I chose it because it was spacious enough, without satellite dishes or hot water boilers, and was impressive in its sandstone bricks and its patches of years of adding tar.

Fashion here in Israel in that period was mainly influenced by the work uniforms of the mostly Russian pioneers, but since I didn’t want to simply reconstruct the period, I decided with Oren Dar the stylist just to let the feeling of the dress code shine through.

That is to let the modesty, severity and sadness show.