Captured

“Captured” initiative, advocating for the return of the Israeli hostages, was launched by Sharon Derhy, the daughter-in-law of Chaim Peri, who was abducted by Hamas on October 7th from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.

The initiative emerged when Derhy’s husband, Lior, visited his father’s home in the Kibbutz and recalled a photo taken there a year earlier. In the photo, he and his father are seen at the doorstep of the house, reading weekend newspapers in a laid-back setting. Lior recreated the photo, now with his father absent and the aftermath of the October 7th massacre evident. He sent the photo to Derhy, who juxtaposed both images, added the caption ‘Waiting’, and uploaded it to Facebook. The overwhelming response to the photos made her realize the effectiveness of this positioning, connecting viewers immediately to the urgency of bringing the hostages back home.

Derhy collaborated with the Hostages and Missing Family Forum to lead the recreation of more family album photos where hostages are absent. The original and recreated photos, presented side by side, illustrate the void left in the families’ hearts, depicting their worry and excruciating pain as they await the return of their loved ones.

Additional photographers:
Michal Chitayat: reproduced photos – Amiram kooper, Avraham Munder, Yair and Eytan Horn, Ron Binyamin, Shlomi Ziv.
Amiram Oren: original photo of Oded Lifshitz.
Ari Folman: reproduced photo of the Lifshitz family living room.

Production: Liba Ne’eman 
Graphic design: Oren Vermus
Video editing: Michael Patrick and Roni Kleiner

PR: Gali Zander and Tammy Gorli 
Thanks: Aurit Zamir, Noa Erenberg, Doron Lahav
Special thanks to all the participating families and to the Hostages Families Forum.

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