In Bed With Queer Israeli Couples

This series was born of my desire to create an LGBTQ archive. There has been no archival documentation on this variety and scale before – particularly when it comes to Israel.

As an artist, archive and memory are issues that fascinate me; I examine them, dissemble them and reconstruct them. Today, visual-cultural impact is important and significant in the shaping of memory and public opinion.

Due to the pandemic, the large-scale Pride events of the past were shelved and I saw this as an opportunity to offer my own perspective on pride and love. It’s easy for people to look at Pride March and our community as a provocation. After all, we fight to be seen as equal, both for our love and the right to a family, and perhaps this project offers a solution.

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When the first lockdown was imposed in 2020, I decided to photograph various forms of LGBTQ love all around Israel, with the images taken in the personal space of the subjects. There were no more than four to six clicks of a medium-format film camera.

The subjects brought me into their homes, into their personal spaces, and together we created something new. I’m in love with all of them. Truly, just the way they are. They accepted me, and even those who are camera-shy were wonderful and contributed to the project.

I was sure the project would lead to something very significant. It wasn’t long in coming: an “LGBTQ Love” post was widely shared during Pride Week, followed by write-ups in the local press. Even Vogue ran an article.

I got a lot of messages from across the board, not necessarily the artistic world, and that was always my intention. I don’t want this project to be insulated from the world of art and the external gaze, but something that has a broad base with my artistic eye, expressed in the way of photography and composition.

I thought a lot about family albums, about how people pose and fake contrived smiles. I asked the subjects to be natural, to look directly at the camera, to look into the eyes of the person who will eventually view them. The smile that is usually de rigueur for the straight world is, on the whole, absent here. I am not creating a flattering archive that is a visual amuse-bouche; I am documenting a reality that is beautiful.

I think that, in my subconscious, this project is perhaps based on a desire to validate my love for my partner. I know and believe LGBTQ couples still live under the stare with which society regards them, and with the difficulty of being transparent with their love in public.

More photos are available on the project's Instagram page.

Blog editor: Daniel Tchetchik. From Exposure: Haaretz Photo Blog. Follow on Facebook