6X12 in Jerusalem

[Ben Rubinstein]

I've been somewhat saving the best for last with this new project, I hadn't been to photograph in the Old City yet knowing that it would provide the bulk of the final work. I went out today, took a bunch of pictures which are necessitating a further visit and better treatment but this one worked out nicely.

Sephardic Square
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As you enter the Jewish Quarter of the Old City from the carpark/bus stop, there is an incredibly narrow alleyway which leads off to the side. It gets so narrow that with the drainage channel running down the middle, there is no part wide enough for both your feet so you kind of limp down the alley with one foot on the floor and one in the drainage channel, holding onto the walls on either side so that you don't sprain your ankle. Off to the right halfway down this alley is the Sephardic Centre, an old Spanish style square surrounded by buildings which was the center of life for the Sephardi (Eastern Jewish) community in Jerusalem for 300 years. The buildings around this square housed the Sephardi Rabbinical Court and a Kabbalistic college. This picture shows the entrance to one of the buildings from the square.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Getting a lot of dislike for the picture above which I find rather surprising actually. Any opinions?

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Following a long talk and review with my father who is the real artist in the family (has training which is far more than my seat of the pants version of art ) I've renamed 'The Dream Project' and it's now called 'Contemplation'. His point was that the pictures were not abstract enough, or at least a large portion were not, to fall under the concept conjured up by the term 'dream'. Actually using the title 'Contemplation' does give me more scope. We'll have to see where I go with that.

 

[raywest]

Hi Ben,

I thought it was _your_ dream project, i.e. the project you had dreamed about, but 'contemplation' is a fine name for the series.

wrt the previous image -'Sephardic Square', I think the disturbance is caused by the dark 'fern like' plant in the alcove of the archway. For me it works better with that cropped out - at the moment it is sort of leering round the edge, shouting 'me too, me too'

Best wishes,
Ray

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Hi Ray,

Problem is in this web sized version you can't see the pot those right hand plants are in which makes them look far less foreboding.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

I saw this metal gate/door through the branches and bushes as I whizzed past on a bus last week, it was pretty far away so looked tiny and I only saw it for a split second but I knew I had to return and capture it eventhough all I'd seen was the gate and not the walls, geometry and light which makes this picture work so well. I had imagined the gate framed by the trees as I'd originally seen it, infact that's how I first shot it but then walking about a bit I saw the possibilities. With the late afternoon winter sun and just the right angle, I'm rather pleased with this one! First picture in the newly renamed Contemplation (part 2) project since slightly changing the direction of the work. Shot with the Takumar.

The Doorway​

Interesting story about this place, this is a doorway leading off the Bell Park in Jerusalem and leading to the back of the Jerusalem Theatre. My abiding memory of this part was from over a decade ago when I was in the army. I was seconded to a police anti-terrorist unit and as we came back off patrol in the south of Jerusalem a call came through as there had been a reported dead body seen in the park. We arrived, jumped off the jeep and there indeed seemingly wrapped around the tree was the dead body of a man. The officer gingerly turned him over (gingerly as we were worried about needles!), I was volunteered to check through the pockets for some ID when at that point the dead man stirred. He hadn't been dead, just a tramp who was very annoyed at being woken up from his nice comfortable tree at 3am! We apologied profusely and very embarressed left the park. ​

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

A return to the Timeless Collection for me with an image which somewhat fulfills a 6 year wait to capture an image within the Old City of Jerusalem which would encompass Chanukah for me. I've had an image in my mind for those 6 years but in the end I came away with something completely different.

For over a thousand years the Jews in exile lit their Chanukah lights indoors out of fear of their neighbours. Although the tradition of lighting in the house prevails still in the Diaspora, in Jerusalem today the residents proudly light 'Petach Habayit', at the entrance to their house as the custom was originally conceived some 2 millenia ago after the events leading up to the Chanukah miracle. I chose to celebrate that in this image.

Petach Habayit
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This image looks wonderfully serene but taken on one of the busiest and most ancient streets of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City it was certainly anything but! Being the last night of Chanukah the place was overrun with tour groups, tourists, people on the way to the Western Wall and residents coming out to light their candles. I knew I'd need the maximum tonality I could get out of the street lighting and was shooting at iso 100 with a 25 second exposure (X10, this is a 44 megapixel stitch!). 25 seconds never takes quite as long as when you have literally over 200 people passing between the time you first set up your tripod until you finish and pack up. It was agonising trying to time the gap between the various tour groups, honestly, 25 seconds is sooooooooo long! .

Rather flat yellow street light combined with an over contrasty 85mm lens made for a lot of work to try and keep the tonality looking 'right'. I hope I've managed even after such a drastic resize and the 'save for web' compression.

 

[fotografz]

Excellent photo and story Ben.

Is the top right of the arch holding tone in the original?

-Marc

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Yes it's both gradual and soft, took a lot of work that corner

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Wow, looking at the last picture I realise just how long it is since I've had the chance to go out shooting project work!

I now teach in a local art college once a week. The college was going for a weekend trip to the town of Hebron, famous for being the burial place of the Patriachs and Matriachs and revered by 3 religions. Photography was not high on their agenda but I was invited to join them on friday and never having been to Hebron before I willingly agreed.

We got to the Cave of the Patriarchs and the guide told us we had just 7 minutes for photography. My job was both to direct and help the students as well as fulfil the request of the head of the college to give them a pro pic or two as well as a favour (they were paying me very well for this trip). You can imagine how hard it was to find somewhere to shoot, direct and help the class all within that time frame. Added to that, in a masochistic mood I'd brought just my 5D and my little Pentax Super Tak 50mm lens with. Most of my gear is in NY, on loan to a friend shooting a wedding there and I did want to drive home a point I'd mentioned in the last class about gear really not being that important.

For almost a millenium Jews were only allowed to ascend to the 7th step at the south east entrance to the structure (which is huge!) to pray. They were not allowed to enter or even come any closer than this small, sloping and uneven step to pray at what is the longest standing and 2nd holiest site in Jewish belief. Now of course the structure built originally by Herod is accessable to Jews. Ever since I saw a picture of the 7th step in an old encyclopedia I'd wanted to visit it, to feel the melancholy history embodied by that small rock surface. I had just 6 minutes and most of that I was helping others but I managed to get this picture of the 7th Step, now empty of people but with a dusty lectern still there should anyone wish to come and pray.

The 7th Step
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Next item on the agenda was the burial place of Ruth, of the 'Book of Ruth' in the Old Testament, the head of the family of King David and the line of royalty of the Jewish people. The burial place has a synagogue built over it with an area to light memorial candles however I started to wander around and found the entrance to a cave. It was very small and lots of building work was being done there, walling up the inside of the cave. It appears that this was the site of the ancient synagogue that had been on the site. I took this photo towards the back entrance of the cave. For me it tells a powerful story from the life of Ruth but I won't bore you with historical details! This time I only had 5 minutes at that site.

Ruth
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So, 11 minutes in total, never been there before but I did have a strong awareness of the history which helped me in finding what I wanted to portray even in such a short time. I shot just these two pictures. Literally.

 

[RAM]

Ben, These are wonderful - they are evocative and give a feeling of being there.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

I had never been happy with the first version of this picture seen above and here:



The light wasn't right and the canon lens I used didn't have the rendition I had imagined for the image. It was actually this image which inspired me to buy my Takumar 50mm f1.4 Super.

I've been back a couple of times, never seemed to get it to work. I took the day off work today for various reasons and took the opportunity to go back and try again. I'm finally happy with the image. The rendition is as I imagined, the composition and lighting finally suit the scene as I envisaged it. Took 4 hours in 30 degree heat but I finally have the picture I wanted.

Taranto
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Just to recap the caption I wrote with the original image:

I showed this picture to my friend, a Yemenite Jew who grew up in the old back alleys of Jerusalem. He said "It takes me back to going to the synagogue with my father holding my hand, the quiet alley, the small doorway, the dim lighting, the old men and the smell of books".

I teach my students this and any true photographer knows it like they know their apertures and shutter speeds. Go back, again and again and again until it's perfect!

 

[fotografz]

Excellent Ben.

Not only the subtile re-rendering of light and shadow, but the inclusion of a person gave it scale and depth that was lacking in the first ... the area is much larger than first impression.

-Marc

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

It was that band of light on the street which made it to be honest, that and as they fixed the roof above the alleyway the eye wasn't drawn up to the light there creating subtle inbalance.

The lens did help as well, the rendition is so much more pleasing at the transition from focus to out of focus and dark to lights. Modern lenses could do well to learn from the lessons of the earlier 2/3rds of last centuries offerings. Sharpness and contrast is all very well but too often it is at the expense of a pleasing rendition.

Think you may be fooled by the scale, the girl and the street are 3 steps down from the path which does give a lie to the depth apparent.

 

[psy501]

..having been following this thread for a while its time to leave a few words..(and it was the reason to register here..)..this is absolutely outstanding work, ben..not only is it inspiring to think about going to jerusalem and visit this beautiful (and of course highly interesting from a historical point of view) city but also revisiting my photographical techniques..keep it going..best regards, erik..

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Stay around Erik! This is the friendliest photo forum on the web!

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Not from Jerusalem this time, the results of 15 minutes stopped by the side of the road somewhere in County Wicklow, Ireland in the pouring rain. I travelled to Ireland for a 3 day break taking just a 5D and the Canon 50mm with a vague idea of trying out landscapes shot wide open. I have to admit the concept was mostly inspired by me not being bothered to take any gear like a tripod . Ireland to me (my fathers family emigrated from Ireland during the famine some 5 generations back) is a a land of deep history, mystery and darkness and that is what I have tried to convey. It was Halloween that night and I have a feeling that subconsciously it was having an effect . In any case, for those who like images which dwell in the darks and midtones....

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As I have explored before on this thread, the Canon 50mm f1.4 is awful wide open. However it's awfulness is caused by specular highlights. In late October in Ireland there wasn't a specular highlight to be seen and the lens worked perfectly at giving its ghostly rendition wide open.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

The wife says it's a bit nothingy, what do you think?

The view as I eat my breakfast outside the bakery across the road from work in the 'Hungarian' area of Jerusalem. Pentax Takumar Super 50mm wide open at f1.4.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

I took my class to the area opposite the Machane Yehuda Shuk in the centre of Jerusalem today and when I set them loose for 40 minutes to complete an assignment, I took the opportunity to visit this doorway which I have been trying to put down 'on film' for two years now. I think I've finally got it.

Canon 50mm 1.4 wide open under the only circumstances where wide open on that lens works, i.e. overcast skies and not a hint of a specular highlight. Even so the contrast is still far above my Takumar and the coma/halation nowhere near as strong as the glorious Tak. Oh well, it was the lens I had with me at the time...

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

A different lens this time, 16-35LII at about f5.6. It really is a very nice lens for all that so many dislike it. I've now discovered that on my new 5D3 it's even better than it was on the 5Dc (this was shot with the older camera).

I always say 'look behind, the best photos are often behind you'. Literally the case coming down the steps in the Old City of Jerusalem with a couple of my students a few weeks back.