Photographing those on the margins and placing them in the center is the goal of Israeli photojournalist Oren Ziv. For over 20 years, Oren has undertaken various extraordinary projects, using public spaces as a rich source of inspiration to capture incredible images that reveal the flaws in society. This is a portrait of the master of social and documentary photography.
Oren was born and raised in Haifa. At the age of 17, he began his photography career covering the bombing of Bus 37 in Haifa, which killed around twenty people. He then focused on photographing protests in Haifa in 2002 and 2003 against political agreements. In 2005, Oren turned his attention to the protest against the security barrier built due to attacks along the Green Line. There, he took a series of photographs, then traveled to the other side, to Kfar Bilin near Ramallah, where he captured images of the residents who had started protesting against the barrier, which had become a powerful symbol of their struggle.
"The barrier was not built along the Green Line but inside the Palestinian villages", emphasizes Oren. "After spending several months photographing residents unhappy with the barrier's installation, I gathered several photographers, and we organized an exhibition. We printed the photos in A3 size and hung them around various Israeli cities nearby. The goal was for Israelis to realize what’s happening just a few kilometers from their homes, in the Palestinian villages", Oren explains.
Oren and his friends then printed the photos as postcards, which were sometimes tagged by passersby. "What has always interested us are the people who see our photos and disagree with us. Sometimes, some would erase the text or write on the photos", Oren recounts.
Oren has always wanted to show the public images they are not used to seeing, "very different from conventional photography."
He notably photographed Bedouin protests in 2010 at Al Arakib, an unrecognized village by Israel between Rahat and Be'er Sheva, whose homes were destroyed by Israel; as well as the evictions of families from the Givat Amal neighborhood in Tel Aviv. This working-class neighborhood was replaced by luxury towers, resulting in the eviction of 120 families between 2014 and 2021.
"I want to highlight those who are demeaned and dehumanized in some way, particularly through evictions", says Oren.
Oren has lived in Shapira, in southern Tel Aviv, for about fifteen years. He works extensively on the subject of Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers, many of whom reside in this neighborhood. In 2018, he photographed a protest against the deportation of these migrants to their home countries. "In one of the most significant photos from this project, you can see the asylum seekers waiting their turn to enter the Ministry of the Interior on Salame Street. They often wait for long hours, and no one pays attention to them", Oren emphasizes.
During the coronavirus period, Oren photographed asylum seekers in their homes and took portraits of those who were placed in the Holot detention center in southern Israel. This was another way for him to highlight "those whom society tries to conceal."
The portraits were displayed in the street, at the central train station in Tel Aviv, and on the fences surrounding the Holot detention center, without text or names. "We felt that the issue was well known to the public", Oren states. He also photographed protests at Levinsky and Kikar Rabin in support of these asylum seekers.
On October 7, Oren, like the rest of the country, woke up to the sound of rocket alert sirens. He decided to immediately head south with a fellow photographer to capture unique photos. On the way, they quickly observed the extent of the massacre carried out by the terrorists.
They took a few photos and then headed to Ashkelon and Sderot, to the police station that had been attacked by Hamas. "We stopped between Sderot and Netivot, where we saw young people killed by Hamas on the road. Throughout the day, we heard gunfire, and at one point, we realized we were being shot at, so we took cover under the cars. Fifteen minutes later, we were rescued by the security forces", recalls Oren.
In the following days, Oren photographed many locations affected by the tragedy, as well as protests at the Hostages Square in Tel Aviv and in front of the Kirya with hostages's families, as well as protests against the government.
Oren also focused on protests by right-wing extremists at the Erez crossing, who attempted to enter Gaza and were expelled by the security forces.
Recently, Oren has started experimenting with drone photography to capture wider shots. In 2023, he took aerial photos of Palestinian communities that had to leave their village near Ramallah due to violence from settlement residents.
Caroline Haïat
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