Zion Square, Jerusalem, 2005

This is the first photograph I made in The Jerusalem Show series, and it is significant as it has revealed a number of discoveries to me.  To understand my excitement I will introduce the discoveries through a story (after all  the process is most important):

At the end of the first semester of my third year of study, I found myself without direction about the annual project I had to do.  I tried to turn in conceptual directions and didn't reveal anything to myself (to me it is obvious - if there is no discovery there is no excitement and it won’t work).  I went downtown to get inspired. I took my new digital reflex camera - a Canon 10D which had arrived from B&H two weeks earlier. (I purchased it so I wouldn't lose the little money I earned from wedding photography due to the need to buy and develop the film, etc.)  I was sure I was just going to do sketch shots. None of us thought at the time that such a camera could be taken seriously: "It doesn't have enough resolution... not enough color depth…” we were all Pixel Pipers from the first second.
I arrived at the city center and climbed on the stage in the center of Zion Square.  I saw the Model and the man who suffered from Down Syndrome. I quickly installed the camera on the tripod and took a photo.  I wanted to have more people in the picture (I already had the experience from the "Sabbath Square" photo how to assemble details from different shots). I wanted to do something weird, a bit like Fellini...  In the distance I saw an ultra-Orthodox family and thought it would be nice if they appeared in the picture, but I had a problem, how to get them photographed?! - On the one hand I can't move the camera away from it’s position, because then I won't be able to install the family in the final picture.  On the other hand, I can't go to them and leave the camera behind because someone might steal it..., so I decided to shout and wave at them.  They approached, and I asked if they would agree to stand for a family portrait.
To my delight they said: "Yes, where do you want us to stand?"
I replied: "To the left of the concrete."
The father: "And how do you want us to stand?"
Me: "Just like you do for a wedding photo." (At the time I was working as an assistant to ultra-Orthodox wedding photographers, I would run with a "Lomidine" flash to complete lighting.  At the beginning of a wedding, the whole family would gather for studio shots.  I would set up sets with printed backgrounds such as palace halls and European forests... even though the families always stood the same way they did so in full devotion).
The family approached the scene, each knowing their exact location.  There was a lot of noise around, I had to direct them a little bit so I could see the baby.  Since they were no longer close to me so I yelled. People around heard screams and came to see what was happening ... Within five minutes, a queue of thirty people waiting to be photographed gathered.
I photographed the people one after another, individuals and groups.  Thanks to my new supernatural photographic ability - to see on the camera monitor where their predecessors stood, I directed them precisely to fit into the Decisive Moment.  At one point I saw the dwarf looking from the side, I asked him, "Would you like to be photographed?"
He: "Who? Me?"
Me: "Yes. I think you'll be wonderful in this picture."
He stepped to the stage of the scene ... Suddenly a woman emerged and put her arm around his shoulders. I knew I earned a gift...
(While working, a mix of photographers  went through my mind: Richard Avedon, Garry Winogrand, Jeff Wall, Gabriel Bassilico).

I photographed each person who was standing in line for me.  I was tired and felt I was done. Just before I moved the camera, a guy in a white shirt came up to me and said, "I want you to take my picture." (He didn't seem interesting to me.  In addition, just a minute ago, I was photographing a beautiful boy with blond hair holding two Saluki dogs). I told him, "I have to go, but for you I'll wait five minutes, If you bring someone else with you, I'll take your picture.
After two minutes he showed up with his friend.  "Now you're photographing us!" he said. The guy he brought with him was even more boring, but there was a dog next to him. I asked: "yours?"
He replied: "Yes!"
I said: "If you hold him, I'll photograph you."

When I returned home, I assembled the picture.  I looked at the characters and there they were: the Down Syndrome and the Model, the Ultra-Orthodox family, the Gays with their dog, and an odd couple in the center. Everyone standing and presenting themselves in front their beautiful background. 
    I said to myself, "This is the Jerusalem I know."