Ori Gersht is an Israeli-born photographer/filmmaker whose oeuvre is as deeply embedded in political history as in art history. Schooled in the great pictorial masters, he employs saturated colors and fine detail. But instead of a paint palette, he incorporates the latest digital technology, regaining the richness of the past through high-definition photography. The result is a visual continuum that marries past with present to underscore historical landscapes. Gersht鈥檚 images work on many levels, pushing the eternal human quandary of creation and destruction beyond merely imitating the old or simply toying with the latest gadgetry.
Gersht, who has earned a retrospective show at Boston鈥檚 Museum of Fine Arts, collaborated with the MFA in producing the monograph "Ori Gersht: History Repeating." Now living in London, Gersht spent his childhood in Tel Aviv during four Israeli wars. His relatives were victims and survivors of World War II, perhaps the reason his work often explores war-torn landscapes.
In 鈥淧omegranate 2006,鈥� Gersht riffs on 16th-century Spanish master Juan Sanchez Cotan鈥檚 鈥淨uince, cabbage, melon, and cucumber鈥� by replacing the quince with a pomegranate, which symbolizes prosperity but also shares an identical spelling with the word 鈥済renade鈥� in several languages, including Hebrew. In the same series (and film), he also borrows from Harold Edgerton鈥檚 famous photo of a bullet shot through an apple. Gersht sends the bullet through the pomegranate.
Resilience is a part of Gersht鈥檚 narrative. For his photo series 鈥淐hasing Good Fortune,鈥� he traveled to Japan where he photographed cherry blossom trees growing in the irradiated soil of Hiroshima. 鈥淚solated鈥� was taken at night with a minimum of illumination, producing bold images of blossoms dissolved into their elemental state.
鈥淗ide and Seek鈥� explores the hidden places where people sought refuge from political turmoil in Poland and Belarus. The views, obscured by fog and mist, are almost monochromatic. In 鈥淏oatman, 2009鈥� the tiny undefined figure is swallowed by the blue landscape. He is hidden but in plain view. It is a poignant visual expression of escaping to safety.
This book makes a fine introduction to Gersht鈥檚 work. Curator Al Miner鈥檚 introduction and Ronnie Baer鈥檚 interview with Gersht give the reader a compelling sense of why this photographer鈥檚 work matters.
Joanne Ciccarello is a Monitor staff photographer.
