What comes to light

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Video and a projector on a ladder

00:08:32, looped

 

2022

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‘What comes to light’ is the title of the work, 

 

and a question I ask myself repeatedly.

 

I use light to make images.

 

I use light to see.

 

I use light to make the unknown known,

 

I use light to grow my plants.

 

I use light for cooking and cleaning.

 

I use light to speak about my shame.

 

 

‘What comes to light’ is a moving image work, combining posts from Israeli Facebook groups about women’s sexuality, written by women (in Hebrew, there is a distinction between male and female pronouns). And floral images I photographed in Jerusalem, my home town, and at my father’s agricultural field in Karmei Yosef. 

 

Both the texts and images are fragments. The texts are words and sentences taken from the original posts, and the images are screenshots of the "full” image. It is a reflection of the method of photography and the use of social media. Both are used to create an imaginary world, a persona, an image of the “right way to live”, share personal stories, and seek emotional support and connection with others. As a photographer and a social media user, I find myself conflicted in these contradictions.

 

I chose light as a metaphor - it is used technically to create images with cameras and project them on a screen, to show them or print (in the darkroom); it is used naturally (intentionally or not) to grow flowers and plants; it is used as a personal statement, to bring something to the light of day, taking it from a dark place symbolises the personal experience of shame. As a person who identifies as a woman, I tried to bring the experiences I know, shared by other women.