Visiting The beautiful cemetery at Kineret

Last Shabat I went with friends to visit the Kineret.
We have set the meeting point at the beautiful cemetery of Kineret which is my favorite spot on the sea of Galilee.
Romantic ,breezy and quiet .
As I took this snap of the tomb of Rachel the poetess I remembered the fashion shoot I did inspired by her -

my last fashion shot for Haaretz : 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 last fashion shoot was inspired by an Israeli icon

Rachel the poetess - Rachel Bluwstein 1890-1931

She 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 bohemian lifestyle and idealism 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 her white Bauhaus buildings on the Mediterranean and the blue Sea of Galilee with her 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 she 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.

As an Israeli fashion photographer and having grown up with the influence of European art and fashion at home in tel Aviv, I am always looking to combine the old with the new.

When I planned the story I considered doing one scene at the cemetery but then decided to do a more concentrated shoot , so I dropped it .
But i still intend to use this beautiful location one day.