Eighteen by Natan Dvir (April 7, 2010) 
(56 votes, average: 3.54 out of 5)
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Introduction by Margo de Beijer
Natan Dvir’s work was recommended to me by photographer Rania Matar. With his series ‘Eighteen’ he portrays Arab men and women in that very peculiar and intriguing life phase of adolescence. Dvir’s work is a great closure to this week on Bite!, which started off with slideshows by Palestinian photographer Eman Mohammed on the family of Mohammed Khader, his wife, children en pigeons and Tanya Habjouqa’s series with her strong women from Gaza. I would guess that the majority of us expects a different world view from Dvir, being a descendant of Israel. But he does the opposite. His choice is to use his professional life as a photographer to get close. And by getting close he shows me the world and growing up of people that he is supposed to call the enemy. He offers hope with his portraits and even very literally in his words when I quote Natan Dvir:
“If I, a Jewish Israeli man, have been accepted and was allowed into my subjectsʼ personal lives – so can others.”
Next / Two To Ten Seconds To Get The Shot / Previous / Past and Present, Bitter and Beautiful /
Our poll "A photo essay always needs a great written story" closed. 267 people voted, 28% agrees, 72% disagrees. 233 people answered our follow-up question "Are you a photographer?" 82% indicated they are, 18% said no. Initially, negative answers to question #1 were almost 100% as was the pecentage of photographers among respondants. Then, when the level of non-photographers started to rise, the percentage of people indicating good text is always essential started to rise too. This seems to indicate that non-photographers think that adding good text to your photo essays is essential. In my opinion: if you want non-photographers to dig your work, you know what to do...
While Israel is defined as the Jewish state, over a fifth of its population is Arab (Muslim, Christian, Druze and Bedouin), consisting of hundreds of thousands of families whose ancestors settled in Palestine and stayed within its borders after Israel was established in 1948. This large minority is experiencing a challenging identity crisis.
Wishing to examine forward-looking aspects of this Arab-Jewish coexistence, I decided to focus on Arab men and women at a crucial point in their lives – turning eighteen years old. At this age they graduate from school, become legal adults, and gain the right to vote as Israeli citizens.
Unlike their Jewish peers, most do not join the military. As they start their mature life in Israel many face the dilemma of striking a balance between their relatively traditional culture and a modern lifestyle.
I aim to confront, and dispute widespread misconceptions of the “other,” those people within my own country whom I was brought up to consider more as foes than as allies.
I faced a unique challenge of photographing and portraying my so-called “enemy,” and in doing so hope to highlight the impact that cultural and internal conflict have had on these people, personally and collectively.
The hostility and suspicion that I expectedly felt at the beginning of most of my encounters were soon replaced by interest, curiosity and hospitality. The candid pictures photographed after the portraits reflect this transformation and allow an intimate view of this generation. By combining these images with the portraits I try to interfere with my audience’s instinct to regard my subjects as the “other.”
Eighteen is an artistic point of contact serving as an invitation to get closer. A project aimed at reconciliation by understanding and respect. An inside view by one who is typically regarded as an outsider. If I, a Jewish Israeli man, have been accepted and was allowed into my subjectsʼ personal lives – so can others.
Weblink: natandvir.com
The project Eighteen was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Other Israel film festival.
Natan Dvir (1972) lives and works in New York City, USA.
Click weblink otherisrael.org or browse our archives
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I met Natan recently at FotoFest in Houston. While looking at his work, I was overwhelmed with his deep sense of purpose and commitment to connecting people through his work. It’s a deeply moving experience — viewing how he represents peoples and spaces into such eloquent frames. To fully appreciate his poetic style and his images’ ability to transcend simple politic definitions, I suggest others view his website. Nothing is quite like hearing his own words flowing over the work as one digests them an image at a time, but the website comes fairly close.
ואללה סבבה …אבל אני מקווה שתופיע את התמונות שלי גם כו בפעם הבא ובהצלחה