ISRAELI ADVENTURE - Jonathan Brooks

Israel is a unique country, torn apart by war and politics. Most people turn away from you when they see a camera, and it’s surprising how often they see you before you see them. I was told that photographers working for the government sometime take photographs of people for many reasons, I could be seen as one of those and therefore, not liked.

It was not, as I thought, as though these people thought I was "taking" something from them, like their soul, they are now far too educated to believe this, I think. This could explain why time after time I tried to photograph shepherds in the countryside and was chased away by them wielding sticks and shouting things I couldn't understand. Being on my own I was in no position to try to reason with these people.

J Brooks

Around the country there are many roadblocks, several hundred metres of concrete blocks making zigzags in the road, policed by armed soldiers. Although at the time I was there it was generally peaceful, you cannot escape the trappings of a country that is ready to go to war at any time. When you fly into Tel Aviv airport there are military aircraft lined up on the runway with support aircraft from the UN. Imagine flying into Heathrow and seeing all this activity, you would soon become uneasy, yet they live with these distractions and now far worse atrocities day in day out.

Conscription is in operation within Israel. Young men and women very often have to break their studies from school or university to take up military service. It is not unusual to be driving along on a Friday or Monday and see hundreds of army personnel waiting at bus stops, or standing at the side of the roads hitching a lift home for the weekend, all are carrying huge backpacks and firearms. One can only presume that they carry live ammunition, these are not games that they play. Often I would come down to breakfast in some guesthouse or hotel and have to step over firearms left all over the floor. They seem to take them everywhere and one just takes them for granted after a while.

Another strange feature is having huge ditches dug on both sides of many roads, some three to four metres deep; they can run for hundreds of miles. They certainly stop you from going to sleep when driving; I'm not sure just how you would get out if ever you fell in, presuming of course that you survived. I never really found out what their purpose is, it certainly wasn't for rainwater, more likely that they would hold up any foreign invaders trying to cross the roads.

My first area to visit was to be the Sea of Galilee. I remember learning all about the area in religious studies at school, so many names sounded familiar although the "sea" is really no more than a lake you can see across most of the time. Boats ferry tourists back and forth and can be very picturesque, particularly at this time of year (early spring), with yellow rape fields running down to the water's edge. Most of the tourist sites around the sea are filled with shops selling mainly cheap imports from Far Eastern countries, yes even here! I circumnavigated the Sea and settled in a small guesthouse in Tiberias, overlooking the Sea. After a couple of days enjoying the regular tourist places and taking photographs, listening in on the guided tours, I had itchy feet again and decided to drive off to the north west coast.

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There are 228 days to get ready for the SWPP Convention and Trade Show at The Hilton London Metropole Hotel ...
which starts on Tuesday 8th January 2013

Photo Quote: More varied than any landscape was the landscape in the sky, with islands of gold and silver, peninsulas of apricot and rose against a background of many shades of turquoise and azure. - Cecil Beaton