PHOTOGRAPHS OF WOMEN, 1940 – 1980, BORIS CARMI

The exhibition brings out and distinguishes between the photographs of women and the overall work of Boris Carmi from the beginning of the 'Thirties  until the 'Seventies of the 20^th century. As Carmi himself said: "I have always photographed girls; all my life I have been pro-women and anti-men."

The exhibited photographs show women fighting, beauty queens, women in everyday life, on the beach, women in immigrant transit camps and more.

These photographs are not merely a collection of incidents that reflect the face of the generation. They transcend the borders of the historic document, reflecting joie de vivre and humor and an attempt "to bring order" to the world trapped inside the frame.

According to Avi Sebbag, the curator: "Boris Carmi's photographs of women call for thought and discussion regarding their place within the cultural norms of the West which deal with the masculine aspect of woman. Such debates usually have a negative connotation….Collating the images of women in one exhibition enables the onlooker to identify Carmi's look of yearning, surprise and admiration at women as a masculine look , with all its negative connotations; his look at the woman pioneer, modern and self-assured, yet feminine, soft and caring at the same time. It reveals a different aspect, one that does not accord with the historic-cultural content that characterizes looking at women as chauvinistic…"

Boris Carmi was born in Russia in 1914. His mother died when he was a child and he lost his father at age 16. He left his native land as a boy and went to live with relatives in Warsaw. It was from there that his restless wanderings took him to several

other countries. In 1933 he began to study ethnography at the Sorbonne in Paris, where the photographic part of his life began.

He came to the Land of Israel (Palestine) in 1939 and earned his livelihood at farming. But he soon turned to photography. During World War II he photographed maps in Egypt and Italy for the British Army and subsequently did the same for the "Haganah".

Concurrently, he became a professional photographer, continuing to ply his trade until his death in 2002. Between 1952 and 1976 he worked as press photographer for the Hebrew daily "DAVAR".