Tomer Appelbaum, Before-After-Before, from PRIVATE 47 – ISRAEL
[M]y work consists of the things I am obliged to do, which I try to do in the best possible way, through my eyes and my point of view. The second part of my work consists of my personal interests, places, people and events which I am drawn to. I was based in Jerusalem for three years and now live in Tel Aviv. There is a huge difference between the two cities that greatly influences my work as a photographer.When I lived in Jerusalem I was constantly aware of conflicts, whether it be between religious and secular Jews, Arabs and Israelis, or even the new and the old. On the contrary, Tel Aviv has a different vibe, is the cultural capital of Israel and is young and liberal, multi-cultured in a different sense, which attracts the lens to put an emphasis on other things. My influences come from the journalist world which surrounds me as well as from contemporary photographers and art from around the world.
In my works I try to amalgamate the two and create a symbiosis of movement and emotion and, as someone who grew up in the world of film, I tend to think more in black and white. None of the pictures presented here have been published in the newspaper I work for. Throughout my career as a photojournalist I have never had a final say as to which pictures are to be published. I feel that my best pictures are yet to be shown.
