Black and White

It was the summer of 2001 and Gil Cohen-Magen had recently been hired as Reuters news agency’s first Israeli photographer. Now before Rosh HaShanah Reuters wanted a supply of photos showing Jewish religious and traditional life.

Gil a native of Jerusalem’s (then) secular Kiryat HaYovel neighborhood who had little contact with Orthodox Jews first tried hunting for such pictures in the Machaneh Yehudah market capturing images of market stalls where zucchinis and esrogim sat side by side. He found Jews choosing their esrogim the way most people select a watermelon building lightweight succahs made of fabric and performing kaparos at the Central Bus Station with a bundle of coins. But his instincts whispered that this was not the “tradition” that he was looking for. He understood that if he could succeed in crossing the impassable border into Meah Shearim he might have some best-selling pictures in his hands.

So Gil decided to be brazen. Decked out in a bright red shirt a pair of jeans and white sneakers he began exploring the alleyways of Meah Shearim. Every closed shutter behind which a local resident was lighting a Chanukah menorah drew his attention. Every sign warning that it was forbidden to take photographs raised his level of motivation. Every closed function taking place in the inner courtyards of Meah Shearim whetted his appetite.

Well how hard could it be to look religious and really get into the neighborhood? he thought. So he put on a crocheted yarmulke but that didn’t much ingratiate him to the locals and his pictures still lacked the intimacy only an insider can get.