Alex Levac (Hebrew: אלכס ליבק, born 1944,

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

) is an Israeli

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

and

street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...

photographer. He was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

for photography in 2005.Haaretz photographer Alex Levac wins Israel Prize By Smadar Sheffi and Yulie Khromchenko, Ha'aretz 18.02.0

/ref>

Biography

Alex Levac was born in

in 1944. After graduating in philosophy and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

from

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

and in photography from the

London College of Printing The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts. It has approximately ...

, he began working as a freelance photographer in Brazil from 1971 to 1974. In 1974–79, he worked in London and later in Los Angeles (1979–81). In 1981, he returned to Israel and settled in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

.Our Country, Photographs by Alex Levac 1 Apr 2005
/ref> Levac is married to ''

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and '' Amidah''. The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms, ...

'' journalist Sherry Ansky and they have one child.

Photojournalism career

In 1983, he became staff photographer for the daily ''

Hadashot ''Hadashot'' (, lit. ''News'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in Israel between 1984 and 1993. History On 4 March 1984 Haaretz Group CEO Amos Schocken announced that a new daily newspaper, ''Hadashot'' was to be launched, with ...

'' and since 1993 he is staff photographer for the Israeli daily ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

''. In 1984, a photograph he took during the hijacking of a Tel Aviv bus disproved the official account of events and led to a long running scandal known as the

Kav 300 affair The Bus 300 affair (), also known as Kav 300 affair, was a 1984 incident in which Shin Bet members executed two Palestinian bus hijackers, immediately after the hostage crisis incident ended and they had been captured. After the incident, the Sh ...

. Levac has participated in a number of exhibitions, among them Amazon Indians, held at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

; the

Ein Harod Ein Harod ( he, עֵין חֲרוֹד) was a kibbutz in northern Israel near Mount Gilboa. Founded in 1921, it became the center of Mandatory Palestine's kibbutz movement, hosting the headquarters of the largest kibbutz organisation, HaKibbutz H ...

Israeli Biennale of Photography; and the

Israel Museum The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...

in Jerusalem. He published five books.

Awards

* In 1993, Levac received the Rita Poretzky Award of Photography from the

Tel Aviv Museum of Art Tel Aviv Museum of Art ( he, מוזיאון תל אביב לאמנות ''Muzeon Tel Aviv Leomanut'') is an art museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. The museum is dedicated to the preservation and display of modern and contemporary art from Israel and aroun ...

. * In 2001, the

Israeli Foreign Ministry The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( he, מִשְׂרַד הַחוּץ, translit. ''Misrad HaHutz''; ar, وزارة الخارجية الإسرائيلية) is one of the most important ministries in the Israeli government. The ministry's ...

chose Levac to represent Israel in the international exhibit "Our Country". * In 2005, he won the

, for photography. The judges who chose to award the prize emphasized the humanitarian perspective of his work. "No other photographer is as involved as Alex Levac in the Israeli experience," they wrote.

Quotes

"I don't take a lot of pictures. I see things as though through a sieve. The choice of a specific moment is mine. I enjoy photography. It forces me to look at marginal things as well. There are wonderful situations where the photographic potential is enormous, and pictures truly leap to the eye, but most pictures are obtained by hard and patient work. I would like all my pictures to be great, full of historical, social, and anthropological meaning, but very few reach that level. Many times the result is simply anecdotal, visual amusements, the justaposition of bits of reality that usually are not connected to one another. Some are complex, others are simple, but they always tell something about us."

Published works

*''Eye to Zion'', edited by

David Tartakover David Tartakover (דוד טרטקובר) (born 1944) is an Israeli graphic designer, political activist, artist and design educator. Biography David Tartakover was born in Haifa in 1944. His father, Dr. Jacob Tartakover, was a lawyer. His mot ...

, published by

Am Oved Am Oved ("A Working People") is an Israeli publishing house. History Am Oved was founded in 1942 by Berl Katznelson, who was its first Editor in Chief. It was created as an organ of the Histadrut, Israel's federation of Labor, with a goal of publi ...

, 1994. *''Tel Aviv Serenade'', with poems by

Nathan Alterman Nathan Alterman ( he, נתן אלתרמן, August 14, 1910 – March 28, 1970) was an Israeli poet, playwright, journalist, and translator. Though never holding any elected office, Alterman was highly influential in Socialist Zionist politics ...

, Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2000. *''Our country'', Introduction:

Daniel Ben-Simon Daniel Ben-Simon ( he, דניאל בן סימון, born 29 April 1954) is an Israeli journalist and politician, who served as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party between 2009 and 2013. Biography Born in Meknes in Morocco, Ben-Simon made ...

, published by the Ministry of Defense, 2000. *''Like a dog'', edited by

Keter Publishing Keter ( he-a, כֶּתֶר, Keter.ogg, link=yes, ''Keṯer'', lit. "crown") also known as Kether, is the topmost of the sephirot of the Tree of Life in Kabbalah. Since its meaning is "crown", it is interpreted as both the "topmost" of the Sep ...

, 2005. *''Israel: the twenty-first century'', Carmel Press, 2008.

Exhibitions

*2018: ''Oh Jerusalem'', Gallery Bernd A. Lausberg, 16 February – 9 March 2018 *2018: ''Lost in Translation'',

Haifa Museum The Haifa Museum of Art ( he, מוזיאון חיפה לאמנות, ar, متحف حيفا للفنون), established in 1951, is located in a historic building built in the 1930s in Wadi Nisnas, downtown Haifa. Ranking as Israel's third largest ...

, 4 August 2018 – 17 February 2019 *2018: ''Israeli Street Moments'', Leica Gallery

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, 2 November 2018 – 6 January 2019

References

External links

A collection of Alex Levac's photographs

Israel, With a Knowing Wink – An article about Levac in NYT's photography blog

Israel Prize Official Site – CV of Alex Levac (in Hebrew)Alex Levac Collections
on the Digital collections of

Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library is a central academic library of the University of Haifa, and one of the largest in Israel. It is also one of the most progressive Israeli libraries in terms of service, collection, physical space, and libr ...

, University of Haifa {{DEFAULTSORT:Levac, Alex Israeli Jews Israel Prize in photography recipients Israeli photojournalists Israeli photographers 1944 births Living people Tel Aviv University alumni People from Tel Aviv Street photographers