Tel Aviv, 2005, on King George V Street Possibly 2005 - 2014

Curator: Leo Rubinfien’s "Tel Aviv, 2005, on King George V Street" captures a striking figure, doesn’t it? Possibly created sometime between 2005 and 2014. It’s a black and white photograph, a medium often used to elevate a snapshot to something timeless. Editor: My initial reaction? Defiance. The subject's expression, that furrowed brow, paired with the almost confrontational angle, gives her a formidable presence. You can almost feel the street grit ingrained in this photograph. Curator: Precisely. Rubinfien seems to have captured a very specific social tension. King George V Street is, or was, a space of transit, a marketplace. So, what does it mean to capture a woman there, with that expression? What expectations does the audience bring? Editor: Let's look closer. The heavy floral print of her blouse, the delicate string of pearls...there's an interesting play of textures here, rough and smooth, organic and artificial. These details emphasize the labor it takes to look presentable, to engage with the public even when she might not feel like it. Curator: Her gaze makes you wonder what she thinks about being photographed. I imagine, too, what this means within the history of portraiture and street photography and issues around class, labor, the role of women. Does the very act of photographic capture implicate the photographer? Editor: Yes! It brings up a critical point about consent, particularly within street photography. Who has the power in this interaction? Rubinfien documents the woman and through the image the viewer consumes that interaction without context. I want to understand the materiality of the photographic process. Was it a staged shot or something surreptitiously captured? Curator: I appreciate how your materialist perspective allows us to consider that unseen relationship between the photographer, the woman, and the wider socio-political context of Tel Aviv. The role of the documentarian itself is challenged when we see photographs such as this. Editor: And it's a valuable challenge to explore. The image presents the woman, the clothing, her defiance, yet the materiality asks us to look at the larger construction of the social circumstances for this portrait. It's much more than just a quick photograph!