Street Life In Israel: 42 Captivating Images Taken By Ilan Ben Yehuda

Bored Panda reached out to Ilan Ben Yehuda, who told us more about his background.

“I am Ilan Ben Yehuda from the city of Ramat Gan in Israel. For a living, I do graphic design for the fashion industry. I studied film photography (black and white) about 25years ago at Camera Obscura in Tel Aviv. 

About 12 years ago I started street photography, mainly in south Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. In recent years I had the honor of winning several times in Israeli documentary photography competitions, and my works have been represented in the museum. Last year I won the third prize in the Italian Street Photography Festival, in the storytelling category.”

We were wondering what initially drew Ilan to the world of photography. He responded: “I was drawn to photography from looking at magazines and newspapers. I was mainly attracted to black-and-white photography and street photography. I especially liked the photographs of the Israeli photographer Alex Liebek. From observation, I realized that photography is a language I want to learn and practice.

Ilan also shared what inspired him to start street photography, and how has his style changed over time.

“I was inspired by the street photography of the classic masters, Bresson, Winograd, and Robert Frank. With the development of the digital world, I have been inspired by the work of photographers worldwide through social media. Initially, my works on the street were more of a documentary by nature and in the weak areas of South Tel Aviv. After that, I switched to street photography. The photography style changed from B&W and documentary photography to surrealistic color photography with strong contrasts of light and shadow. Over time, I started using flash mainly in photographing pride parades and religious events and demonstrations” wrote Ilan.

As for identifying those special moments that make his photos so unique, Ilan wrote: “My special moments in street photography usually touch me emotionally. There is a certain situation on the street that moves me and motivates me to take pictures. When this happens, I try to imagine the visual human story that emerges from the situation. It is important to me not to convey the exact description of the event but to create a visual story through manipulations of light and shadow, composition, and sometimes also the use of flash.”

Lastly, Ilan shared a story behind one of his favorite photo: “I chose this photo even though it was taken more than ten years ago because the subject of the photo is the act of photography. This photo is my favorite and has been recognized on social media as well.

In the photo, a girl takes a photo of herself in a photo machine. In the photo, I also take a selfie through the mirror on the top of the photo machine. In terms of composition, the image is nicely divided. The photo also has a surreal look with humor, about the photography process and the self-portrait. In this picture, there is also a statement about the act of street photography as an act of voyeurism when the photographer records himself looking at someone else.