Gaston
Zvi Ickowicz

I mainly work in video and photography, where I focus on the interaction between people and landscape in a socio-political context. My work entertains a dialogue with the Israeli sphere and touches on some of the conflicts contained within. I see the photographic act as enabling me to approach reality, with all of its complexity, with a greater degree of precision; in this context, the mediating presence of the camera acts as an index of sorts, which offers the possibility of a more direct observation of reality. The difference between "landscape" and "place" is one of my main subjects. My work examines the relationship between these two concepts, as well as their potential to change following their definition as such and the perspective from which they are viewed. I am interested in how the photographic act can transform a landscape, which can only be examined as a static image, into a place with a dynamic quality, which enables me to study various components of the landscape’s identity. I capture sights and traces that remain in the aftermath of various events: a spent bonfire, a scorched field burnt in the course of a military bombing, an avalanche in the desert, rocks used to create a roadblock, or the ruins of an ancient settlement. This strategy documents the traces of different processes and events that took place in the past, and is directed at exploring definitions of memory, history, and culture as they are revealed through the images captured by the camera. The journey upon which these images are taken is also related to a more general existential state, which involves a search for roots and a sense of belonging. In this context, the concept of time is expanded: inevitably, the present, or "here-and-now", captured in these works is viewed in relation to a chronological axis that constantly echoes the past.