Boris Carmi (1 January 1914 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, as Boris Winograd – 18 September 2002 in

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 ...

) was a Russian-born Israeli photographer. He is considered as one of the pioneers of Israeli

photojournalism 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 documented the very beginnings of the foundation of the state of Israel. His work totals around 60,000 negatives in all.

Life

In 1930, aged 16, Carmi left Moscow for

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, travelling via Poland, Germany and Italy. He then studied ethnology at the Sorbonne and at the same time began to take photographs. He travelled to Danzig in 1936, intending to emigrate to Palestine. He was granted permission to do so three years later and arrived there in 1939 aboard a freighter. He worked in a warehouse for several years until he could become a professional photographer. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Carmi served in the British Army, working on aerial photography and

map-making Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. A self-taught photographer, he was the first photographer of ''BeMahaneh'', the newspaper of the

Israeli Army The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branc ...

, and documented the

1948 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. It is known in Israel as the War of Independence ( he, מלחמת העצמאות, ''Milkhemet Ha'Atzma'ut'') and ...

and other contemporary Israeli history. He was one of few photographers active in Israel at this time and recorded historically important moments, construction projects, transit camps and waves of immigration as well as wartime scenes. In 1949, he Hebraized his surname to Carmi. He worked for various newspapers and magazines producing reports on immigrants and their new beginnings and portraits of artists and politicians. From 1952 to 1976, he mainly worked as Chief Editor of a daily newspaper and a leading figure in the Israeli Press Association. During the 1956 war with Egypt, he tended to photograph the deserted landscape of the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a l ...

with Egyptian soldiers' bootprints rather than casualties or scenes of destruction. In 1959, Carmi held his first solo exhibition in Tel Aviv. In the following decades he produced several further exhibitions and publications, including volumes of portrait and

landscape photography Landscape photography shows the spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic. Landscape photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on man-made features or disturbances of landscapes ...

and a children's book entitled ''The wonderful adventures of the flamingos''. From 1960, he also started to photograph international subjects. He was given lifetime achievement awards 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 ...

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 continued producing photographs until shortly before his death. However, his first solo exhibition in Europe was held posthumously, at the

Berlin Academy of Arts The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The Academy's predecessor organization was fo ...

in 2004 and at the Jewish Museum Frankfurt in 2005. This showed over 100 images, under the patronage of

Johannes Rau Johannes Rau (; 16 January 193127 January 2006) was a German politician (SPD). He was the president of Germany from 1 July 1999 until 30 June 2004 and the minister president of North Rhine-Westphalia from 20 September 1978 to 9 June 1998. In the ...

and Moshe Katzav.

References

Bibliography

*Alexandra Nocke (ed.): ''Boris Carmi - Photographs from Israel'', München, New York 2004,

External links

*
Article on Carmi
on Israeli-Art {{DEFAULTSORT:Carmi, Boris 1914 births 2002 deaths Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent War photographers Israeli photojournalists Social documentary photographers Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine University of Paris alumni British Army personnel of World War II Soviet expatriates in France Burials at South Cemetery in Israel