Israel: A Photobiography: The First Fifty Years [Hardcover]

Micha Bar-am (Photographer), Thomas Friedman (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 25, 1998

Published with the nation on the verge of celebrating 50 years of statehood, this study of the character of Israel and Israeli life features work by the photographer, Micha Bar-Am, and an essay by the author and journalist, Thomas L. Friedman, who has won two Pulitzer Prizes. From the early euphoria of independence, through hard years as Israelis worked to draw life out of the desert land, during the brutal and bitter wars that have marked the course of the last 50 years, and as the country has risen to it prominent international position, Bar-Am has been there to record the drama and the nuance of Israeli life through his photography. Friedman's essay provides a reflection on the unfolding of the first half-century. Israel's contributions to politics and culture, religion and commerce, have made a great impression on the world, and Friedman addresses these issues with the insight of an outsider who has spent almost a quarter of his life in the area.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

From Robert Capa's 1948 photograph of soldiers on the road to Jerusalem to the 1996 shot of a small child gazing into a blue sky filled with colorful kites, the photographs in Israel: A Photobiography depict a broad spectrum of life in a complicated country. It is telling that the major sections of the book are organized by war--Sinai Campaign, Six-Day War, Yom Kippur War, Lebanon War. Stirring images of soldiers on the front lines, refugees on the move, an off-duty fighter tending the family barbecue with a gun on his hip, and Druze women in the Golan Heights shouting to their relatives across the border in Syria remind readers of the harsh reality behind the headlines. Many photographs capture quieter, more personal moments, such as a Greek Orthodox wedding, a man visiting the Tel Aviv zoo, and a woman soothing her infant outside a kibbutz dining hall. Individually the pictures tell thousands of different--even divisive--stories of the people in and around Israel. When regarded collectively, though, these provocative images form a portrait of a nation struggling to find its place. An essay by Thomas L. Friedman, the New York Times's Jerusalem correspondent, explores the contradictions that are elemental to the country, introduces the photographs, and leads readers to consider the pictures from many different angles.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (February 25, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068484513X
• ISBN-13: 978-0684845135
• Product Dimensions: 13 x 10.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,026,713 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Know more about Israel/Jews ...... Great Visual, August 10, 2005

By 

Duncan Wong (EyesCoffee.com from Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Israel: A Photobiography: The First Fifty Years (Hardcover)

Micha Bar-Am is an Israel photographer. From the notes written by Micha, we can see his enthusiasm, curiosity and effort when he started photographing in his early stage. You can also see how his country has changed and how his life has changed too, as indicated in his images. And most importantly, change is going go. There is always full of conflicts in his images and in this country, Israel. Don't read this book as a pure 'photography book'. You may be experiencing as a witness of the history of Israel and the Jewish community. To have better understanding of this country, her culture and her people, it gives good visual material.