Birth of a nation — Photography exhibit displays Israel's 60 years of history

There's a picture of David Ben-Gurion reading the official proclamation declaring Israel a state. "At its birth, there was not much room for celebration," says Mattis. "Armed attackers wanted to kill it in its cradle." You see the emotion on the faces. In other photos, you see a man who survived Auschwitz. You see a train carload of people arriving in a war zone and happy to be there. You see the first baby born in a group of Jewish converts who came from a tiny village in Italy. You see the internal conflict among those who wanted to negotiate with their enemies as opposed to those who wanted to blow them up.

And then you see scenes from later on: from the Six-Day War, the reuniting of Jerusalem, a modern fashion show, a woman looking at pictures of Picasso. You see pictures of Jews and Arabs, Greek Orthodox and Ethiopians and other diverse cultures. You see modern Israel.

And yet, in each picture, you see "a decisive moment," says Mattis. "You see what things looked like at an exact moment in time."

Those moments are not always dramatic, but they are aesthetic, says Miles. We live in a time and a place, he says, where "anyone who buys a camera believes he is a photographer, whereas anyone who buys a piano — just has a piano." But these pictures show that there is so much more to taking pictures than simply pointing at the subject, he says.

"Here you learn that pictures don't come from the camera, they come from the heart and soul of the photographer. The photographer cares what he is looking at. The camera is only the tool at hand that he uses."

Capa was famous for his immediacy, his proximity to what was going on, says Miles. "He used to say that if your picturers were not good enough, you were not close enough. These pictures invite you to think of what was going on before, what went on afterwards. They make you think, they make you wonder. There are wonderful stories going on, and they invite you into them." Not all photos can do that, he says.

Part of that is because, for many of these photographers, they were not just covering another country, says Mattis. "Patrick Zachmann, who's grandparents were killed at Auschwitz, went to cover a reunion of Auschwitz. That was a way of getting to know his grandparents. It had to be meaningful."

The exhibit ends with scenes of Jews being forcibly removed from settlements in a Palestinian area. "These are heartrending scenes of Jews vs. Jews," says Mattis. "After 60 years, one wishes for a happier ending. Maybe for the 70th? Or the 80th?"

But as a telling quote from Abba Eban at the beginning of the show notes, it is all about "the miracle and mystery of Jewish history — self-preservation, resonance, suffering and renewal." That is the focus of these photographs. That is the story of Israel's 60 years.

IF YOU GO

What: Israel: 60 Years photo exhibit

Where: Salt Lake City-County Building, 451 S. State

When: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, noon-5 p.m.; through Dec. 13

How much: Free

Also: Gallery stroll with Kent Miles, Friday, 5:30 p.m.

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E-mail: carma@desnews.com