When Eyal Avraham talks about his home town, you get a strong sense of deep-rooted affection for Jerusalem. He recalls his childhood spent happily playing on unpaved streets and the surrounding underdeveloped hills. But it was his move to Australia, “to satisfy an itch for faraway places and experiences”, that really opened his eyes to the beauty that is Jerusalem’s architecture.
“With distance from my home town came a newfound appreciation for what was back then, the mundane,” Avraham told The AJN. “The streets and alleyways of my childhood had a new ethereal feel to them. The facades that I once walked by without a second thought were now drawing me in – to their history, to their beauty and to the stories of the people who lived there.
“The subtle changes that I barely paid attention to when I lived there were now becoming very apparent; new buildings were going up everywhere, old coffee houses in the Shuk (Mahane Yehuda market) where I used to shop with my parents were being replaced with hip and trendy new cafes and eateries, roads and parks were being reconstructed.”
So, every time Avraham visited Israel, he picked up his camera and tried to capture what was there.
The results of which are Window to Jerusalem, a beautifully curated coffee-table book filled with unique pictures of doors, windows and balconies.
“This book has been a labour of love for me and I now realise what a privilege it was to have grown up in such a city as Jerusalem – a place with so much history and beauty, infused with Judaism, holiness and advancement,” Avraham explained. “My aim is to take people on a journey through Jerusalem without the hustle of cars and malls, and just focus on the detail in each image, like I did before I took that perfect shot.”
Avraham said he hopes to shift the typical scenes of Jerusalem to the quieter streets. While images of the Kotel, and the hustle and bustle of Ben Yehuda Street spring to mind, Jerusalem is just as much about the neighbourhoods and the back streets, “where simple beauty resides in a rusted handle, a disused letter box or old shutters which are falling off their hinges”.
I now realise what a privilege it was to have grown up in such a city as Jerusalem – a place with so much history and beauty, infused with Judaism, holiness and advancement
Window to Jerusalem is broken down into sections, with a brief description of the neighbourhood depicted and the characteristics that make it unique. Sections include Mea Shearim, Bak’a and Ein Kerem.
When asked why Window to Jerusalem is such an important book, Avraham’s answer was simple: it shows the beauty not the complexity. “Jerusalem has been one of the most complex cities in the world for thousands of years. When we hear ‘Jerusalem’ it is often associated with politics which is regrettable because it is so much more than that,” he said.
“We also often think about history, religion and important landmarks, but I don’t think even these things put together equal the beauty of Jerusalem. I wanted to capture peaceful streets in not so well-known neighbourhoods, together with flower-laden balconies and bright blue shutters … it captures this simple beauty over several years. Even now some of these places have changed so much. I’ve captured a Jerusalem in time. Something to look back on as the city continues to evolve, expand and modernise.”
Window to Jerusalem costs $85 and can be ordered from windowtojerusalem.com
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