Purim celebrations tumble from places of worship and community centres on to public streets in a cascade of drunkenised merriment unique to the Ultra-Orthodox. “It was an amazing, exciting experience. I can remember standing there and thinking to myself: ‘I am in Mea Shearim, a 10-minute walk from Jerusalem’s secular centre, with its restaurants and bars and cafés, and find myself in a completely different world, a different time.”
As a freelance photojournalist, often on assignment for the Jerusalem-based news agency Flash90, Yaari feels strongly that there is an urgent need to document the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict – the shelling, the terror attacks, the death of civilians – from a historical perspective and not just as a humanitarian issue: “Documenting life in Israel, and the human side of the stories, gives me a sense of urgency – like I am on a historical mission. Sometimes I feel that my camera is only an excuse for me to go out and explore issues.”
For more of Gili Yaari’s work, go to his website
Stay up to date with stories such as this, delivered to your inbox every Friday.
