Documentors of the Dream Pioneer: Jewish Photographers in the Land of Israel, 1890-1933

Over 225 striking black and white photographs comprise this comprehensive book, the first to chart the origins and development of Eretz Israel as seen through the eyes of Jewish photographers.

Documentors of the Dream is the first comprehensive book to chart the origins and development of Eretz Israel as seen through the eyes of Jewish photographers.

These pioneer photographers and their images are largely unknown and unpublished in the world of photographic history. It is a curious fact that Israel, the embodiment of a culture, language, and history, a symbol of nationhood for the Jews, almost never appears in early photographs of the Holy Land. Most photographs of the period reflect a predominantly Chrisian world in a period of colonial expansion.

In fact, beautiful images were created by Jewish photographers of the time, breathtaking landscape and the early Jewish pioneers. Many of these images were used by emerging Zionist groups in Eastern Europe to encourage land purchases in Israel.

Documentors of the Dream is a stunning and beautiful testament to an emerging art form and the emerging nation it captured.

Booknews

Compiles images from the earliest period to the time when massive immigration from Germany and other countries affected by Nazism brought an awareness of European art and photographic movements that altered the entire scene. The photographs were selected as having significance in the context of the period, but to avoid producing simply a chronology of Zionist events. The accompanying text provides information about the scene, the photographer, and the historical period and points out otherwise subtle elements. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.