Comments on: amnon gutman – the promised land

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 16:13:09 +0000

Bob…

A massive hug, I’ve been missing too much your presence and words round here!!

By: bob black

bob black — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:05:51 +0000

congratulations Ammon! :)))

lovely to see this here…mostly for its freshness on a subject that resists cliche..in a sense, this essay, like the Hong Kong film ‘Infernal Affairs’…and that cinematic, almost film noir approach is significantly refreshing to a story that so often gets plodden by cliches…

would love to see a book on the theme with the same style and approach…

tinker, tailor, soldier spy in palestine…

big hugs
bob

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 10:03:16 +0000

"I’d like to take All the living things, ALL the people out of there and nuke the fucking place, turn all those worshipped places into sand…" Yes.

By: mw

mw — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:43:29 +0000

I’d like to take All the living things, ALL the people out of there and nuke the fucking place, turn all those worshipped places into sand…

Yea, I’ve always felt that way too. Or at least turn the sacred places of the violent ultranationalist types into radioactive waste dumps.

By: Jukka Onnela

Jukka Onnela — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:58:41 +0000

I was there in 2006 I got a barrel in to my forehead (soldier who did that started to cry…) and TRI-X torn out by soldiers at the “security barrier”. Not saying it always goes like that. I did ate chicken (fried by palestinians) with them in Betlehem (Beit Lehem?), before and after some of the palestinian freedom fighters kidnapped Gilad Shalit.

I don’t see any connection to the “security barrier” in these photos, I mean at least they got through, just like the dude got through when I was there..

A quote from my diary. “11 dead and 66 wounded, Islamic Jihad claimed the responsibility for the attack. The air was filled with pieces of men and falafel”.

Ilkka Uimonen made the cycles book like 7 or 8 years ago (still, after all these years, my favourite photobook about the whole thing), photos keep popping up from there, nothing changes except that the photos keep repeating themselves, keep getting more boring.

I’d like to take All the living things, ALL the people out of there and nuke the fucking place, turn all those worshipped places into sand…

Ugliest place that i’ve ever been.

Make the desert bloom like Ben Gurion said. with clouds of mushrooms…

By: mw

mw — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 02:05:34 +0000

Important work, very well done. Thanks.

By: ahlam

ahlam — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:53:50 +0000

Wonderful. A truly tragic irony. As a Palestinian, I hope to one day see a photo essay of Palestinians working construction in Palestine. Far fetched? Perhaps. Until then, “Inshallah”.

By: michael kircher

michael kircher — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 01:35:18 +0000

This is very well done. Intimate. Dark. Frustrating.

Congratulations for being published here.

By: Frostfrog

Frostfrog — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:03:11 +0000

Excellent and very timely. Very real,strong, foreboding story telling focusing upon “invented people.”

Very timely. I wish the whole nation could see it.

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:08:04 +0000

Brilliant images, just my favorite style of photography!

By: Rachel Basham

Rachel Basham — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 20:30:25 +0000

Really liked these photos, the use of light and dark,hiding or being caught in the bright light of the sun.The shining street lights also act as a distant city, a feeling of “others” in #13.Interesting slant of the ridiculousness of this game,hide and seek,the futileness of it all.i agree with Mike R great storytelling,very atmospheric,photos to ponder over.Thanks for your insight.

By: Mike R

Mike R — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:57:54 +0000

A good, strong set of photographs, Amnon, congratulations. The quality of the photography is first rate – deals with the contrasty light of the Middle East very well. I hope that you continue with the essay; I’d like to see more of the lives of both the workers and of their families if that is possible for you to safely do so. Good storytelling.

Mike.