Lifestyle/Community
Rubinger embodies visual memory of Israel
This coming Sunday, Johannesburg will be privileged to host an exhibition by the internationally acclaimed photographer, David Rubinger, Tim-Life magazine’s primary photographer for the Middle East for over 50 years.
OWN CORRESPONDENT
Ninety-year-old Rubinger – he will turn 91 next month – who lives in Israel, covered all of Israel’s wars.
A media release states that Rubinger’s famous photograph of three Israeli paratroopers shortly after the recapture of the Western Wall in the Six Day War, clambering on top of a British armoured car, to celebrate the UN announcement in 1947 of the resolution to establish the State of Israel, has become the defining image of that conflict.
Rubinger’s career as a photojournalist began with this image, in conjunction with the founding of the State of Israel and he has been reporting on the development of Israel ever since, spending over 50 years as a Middle Eastern correspondent for Time-Life magazine.
Rubinger had the unique distinction of being present at most of the epochal moments in the Middle East during the latter half of the 20th century. As such, his images, more than any other, shaped our perceptions of this era.
Former Israeli President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres, once described Rubinger as “the photographer of a nation in the making”.
Rubinger, who was born in Vienna in 1924, emigrated to what was then British Palestine in 1939. He served in the British Army’s Jewish Brigade during the Second World War, during which time he bought his first camera – a Leica M1 – in Germany in 1946. He paid the hefty price of 200 cigarettes and a kilogram of coffee for the camera.
Rubinger is held in such high regard in Israel, that he was able to gain unprecedented, intimate access to Israeli leadership and to be present at critical junctures in Israel’s history. His body of work has thus become the shared visual memory of Israel’s short yet dramatic history.
He was awarded the Israel Prize for his services to the media in 1997 – the highest accolade that can be received in Israel. There is a permanent collection of his photographs on display in the Knesset.
* Rubinber’s address on Sunday will be accompanied by an audiovisual presentation of his works. The venue is Beyachad, the time 15:00 and there’s a ticket price of R60. For bookings, call (011) 645-2510.