“Then this is a real place! ... I thought it was just something in the Bible.” - From Theodor Herzl’s Altneuland
In 2015, I spent a sabbatical in Israel with my family. As I went about my daily life, I photographed and interviewed people I encountered to learn about their life, their history, and their hopes and fears for the future. I asked each person about their identity, ethnic/family background, and their vision for the region’s future. Together, these individual portraits and narratives tell a story about Israeli society that is much more complicated than any single ideology can express. In October 2015, I published an essay about this project, Coming Home.
Note: These interviews are now more than ten years old. Everything and nothing has changed. Opinions have become more extreme and hopes for a peaceful solution have dimmed. It may be time to do a follow-up.
