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In the late 1970s, I spent a year in Israel, six months of which were in Haifa in an absorption center for new immigrants. Israel itself, then barely 30 years old, was still a rough-hewn country; I was overwhelmed by its complexities, and my fears of never being able to fit into a very different culture sent me back to the U.S. Except for a brief trip in 1985, I didn’t visit the country again until October 2013. On that trip, I found a modern, vibrant country that still retained some of the characteristics that I remembered from when I was a young man living there. Subsequently, I have returned to Israel every year to photograph, and these images are my impressions over the course of multiple trips.
I am continually fascinated by the diversity of people and cultures that make up modern Israel; everywhere I turn, there is something that arrested my attention and calls out to be photographed. Working in the streets, marketplaces and homes with my quiet, discreet Leica camera and black and white film, I photograph in a fluid, fast-moving reportorial style, attempting to capture slices of everyday life.