Connecting 6:6

Shai Gabriely's photographs in the exhibition "Connecting 6:6" are artistically made, bringing to the exhibition space an impressive presence and creating a structure of a cinematographic scene. Together, they build a kind of photo album that enhances the trivial, and brings together fascinating encounters, between the immediate available at hand and the fiction, between reality and illusion.  His works serve as an expression tool illustrating personal stories, presenting an eternal cycle of formation and disintegration, moving between reality and dream, and is not rooted in a particular time or place. According to him, the famous artist Richard Avdon served as an inspiration to him and photographers Mario Testinio and Peter Lindbergh.

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The "Connecting 6:6" project is the result of a joint work by the artist with Gil Teichman and the Center for the Blind in Israel, and includes 12 stills to be displayed in this exhibition, as well as a 12-part video series. Gil Teichman contributed a great deal to the project in ideas, in contacts with participants and companies, in work force and, of course, in lighting, which is his main field of activity, with which he created visual illusions.

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In each of Gabriely’s photographs, a known celebrity appears in a surreal scene that simulates a "work breakdown". In each scene, extras from the community of blind were integrated in Israel. Each scene was filmed in a different location, which was specially adjusted and designed for her. In every photo while the celebrity fails in his occupation, the members of the community around him continue their work successfully.

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Each photograph was produced in a different location, adapted and designed specifically for the chosen celebrity, in accordance with his real areas of practice or public image. The photographed field is not necessarily related to the celebrity’s occupation, but is usually derived from a distinct characteristic in his field of work in a metaphoric or reverse manner. The photographs simulate meticulous fashion photography: from the choice of location, its design and suitability to the concept of photography, the construction of unique lighting, styling, etc., including, of course, the placement of the main photographed person and the extras around him.

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The members of the community who serve as extras, are all dressed same way in all the photographs: black color was chosen for the business suits, shirts, shoes and sunglasses, as a metaphor for well-known film characters and their characteristics, and as an allegory to the stereotypes in our society about the visually impaired and people with blindness. The intention, of course, was to "The Blues Brothers" on one hand and "Neo" from the Matrix trilogy, on the other hand. All are characters disconnected from reality. The blues brothers, while disconnected from the situation, managed to continue on their way to their destination - the city hall - despite the collapse of a building on their heads, the explosion of vehicles around them and general destruction. Neo from the Matrix, lives in an illusory world, created for humans, and is completely cut off from the real world in reality. Unfortunately, even people with blindness and visual impairments are perceived by the society as disconnected from the world, as incapable in need of daily support, while in reality they are very attached to the world around them, and often even more than people with vision are.

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The Blues Brothers, who destroy cars and chase neo-Nazis on their way to their destination, and Neo, who confronts Agent Smith and does not run from confrontation to achieve his goal, are described as highly purposeful and confident, who have a goal and achieve it successfully. This is also true of people with blindness, who for the most part are educated, academic and productive workers, loyal and committed to constant development and success.

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The best companies, public bodies and production people in Israel made this unique and complex project possible, in order to give Israeli society the awareness of the importance of integration in the employment of people with blindness and visual impairments, in an original and different way. Integration in employment is key to social integration and is at the top of the agenda of the Center for the Blind in Israel.

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The prism of the camera was chosen to present this important subject, in order to evoke in the viewer the understanding that visual impairments are not an obstacle to achievement, and that the obstacle to them is often the public's attitude toward them. This exhibition invites each of the viewers, to free themselves from the prevailing stigmas, to contain the other and to see it right, to see things, as they want to be shown.

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Shai Gabriely deals with photography of a certain moment, he strives to examine and understand the complex and depth that exists behind the moments that we remember and were burned in our consciousness. Therefore, Gabriely uses directing and directs the photographic parts with a trained eye. He wants to find out what the photograph brings with him beyond, in this way always revealing something new, a particle of something hidden that was not visible before.

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June 6, 2017