In the winter of 2022/23, I completed a semester abroad at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem and took a course on political photography there. I quickly realised that I was sitting among all the different people whose home this is and I knew nothing about the place. So I just went for walks. “Just walking” – a privilege in Jerusalem. The photo book “THE HOLY LAND” is about this very privilege, about observations, curiosity, naivety and boundaries, contrasts and encounters. “THE HOLY LAND” invites you to share in the walks, experiences and thoughts that can be experienced in a very personal way through photographs and numerous notes.

As the book, among other topics, is about barriers and accessibility it exhibits japanese folding. That means between every two pages is another hidden one, sometimes even with inaccessible photographs.

Little transparent sheets of paper invite to be a part of personal stories from back then and reflect the things that happened to and around me.

For me the colours of the book are a tribute to the colours of Jerusalem. To the many sandstone-coloured houses, the grey wall and the incredibly blue sky. Jerusalem is such a complex place that it cannot be grasped directly in all its facets—just like the title of the book, which is split between the front and back covers and is laser‍-‍cut.

Photographs created at
Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem
Book created at
University of Applied Sciences Potsdam

Hardcover
Lasered title
Pigmented adhesive binding
Japanese folding
96 accessible pages & additional hidden pages

First Edition:
20 English copies, 5 German copies
Second Edition:
30 English copies, 10 German copies

Special thanks to Miki Kratsman & Clara Bahlsen