Karen Gillerman-Harel
Past & Future in our Hands
2008
19.6 X 27.5 inch
Photograph, Limited Edition: High Quality unframed print, Signed and numbered 10/36
About the Artwork: Because the first major intake of immigrants was of refugees who were Holocaust survivors, Gillerman-Harel sought to connect the generation of the Holocaust with the generation of future adults who are native-born citizens of Israel. With an extraordinary blend of sensitivity and symbolism she succeeded in bridging the past with the future through the arms of Polish-born Auschwitz survivor Dora Dreiblat, born in 1922, and her great granddaughter Daniela Har-Zvi, born in 2007 in Israel. The infant's hand, stretched out towards the number on her great grandmother's arm, links the future, the present and the past over the flag of Israel, making the photograph a compelling historical document.
About the Artist: Karen Gillerman-Harel, who is a professional photographer, is the prize-winning photographer in a contest co-sponsored by Bank Hapoalim and Yediot Aharonot to give artistic expression to the flag of Israel in honor of the 60th anniversary of the nation's independence. Born in Israel in 1970, Gillerman-Harel has worked in public relations, for ABC News, MTV Europe and various organizations and institutions in the field of PR & Advertising. She had the passion to Photography since childhood, and her camera is part of her persona. It goes where she goes, and has done for most of her life. Even though she had been photographing for years, she felt the need for formal study in photography and gained added knowledge at Goldsmith's College, University of London and at the New York School of Visual Arts. She has had numerous photographic successes and has exhibited in Israel and the US, but nothing she has previously photographed was more meaningful to her than the photo that won the flag contest, copies of which she presented not only to Dreiblat's family but also to President Shimon Peres , Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev and the Tel Aviv Museum. www.loveofisrael.com
