Micha Bar-Am
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Micha Bar-Am (
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
: מיכה בר-עם; born 1930) is a German-born Israeli
photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...
.


Biography

Micha Bar-Am is one of Israel's most senior photographers. For more than sixty years his photographs have played a central role in the construction of Israel's cultural memory, and have presented the country's image to the entire world. Born in Berlin 1930, Micha Bar-Am arrived with his family in Israel (then Palestine) in 1936, and grew up in Haifa. He worked at the port of Haifa and joined the Palmach
Harel Brigade The 10th "Harel" Brigade (, ''Hativat Harel'') is a reserve infantry brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, today part of the Southern Command. It played a critical role in the 1948 Palestine war. It is one of the former divisions of the Palmach ...
during Israel's War of Independence. He was a founding member of
Malkia Malkia () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located near the Blue Line (Lebanon), Lebanese border and Kiryat Shmona, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The village was establish ...
kibbutz on the Lebanese border. In the early 1950s, he participated in archeological expeditions in the Galilee and later in the search for scrolls in the Judean Desert, also, at that time, he began to photograph his surroundings and neighbors. In 1957 became a civilian photojournalist for '' Bamahane'' magazine, a Hebrew-language weekly magazine published by the Israel Defense Forces. In that capacity he documented Israel's formative years - immigration, war, and events of public interest. He conducted photographic journeys through West Africa and Asia. In 1961 he was chosen to take part of the limited team who documented the Eichmann trail. In 1967 covered the Six Day War and his photographs were published worldwide, following which he was invited to join the international prestigious photographers collective
Magnum Photos Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in Paris, New York City, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David Seymour (photographer), Davi ...
. From 1968 to 1992 was the regional photographer for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. In 1974, he became a founding member of the
International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...
(ICP) in New York. In 1977 was asked by director Marc Scheps to establish the Department of Photography at the
Tel Aviv Museum of Art The Tel Aviv Museum of Art ( ''Muzeon Tel Aviv Leomanut'') is an art museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. The museum is dedicated to the preservation and display of modern and contemporary art both from Israel and around the world. History The Tel Aviv ...
, the first of its kind in Israel. He headed the department until 1992 and curated many exhibitions of Israeli and international photographers. In 1985 he was granted
Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
and Nieman fellowships at Harvard University. In 2000 he received the Israel Prize for Visual Arts. Bar-Am has had numerous exhibitions in Israel and around the world. His photographs have been published in many books and countless articles about his work have been published worldwide. He is an honorary citizen of Ramat Gan and Los Angeles. He is married to Orna, an artist. Their sons are Ahuvia (a classical philologist), Barak (an artist), and Nimrod (a philosopher). He lives in
Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...
.


Photography career

In the early 1940s, Bar-Am started taking pictures of life on a
kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
; he used borrowed cameras until he bought a
Leica Leica may refer to: Companies * Ernst Leitz GmbH, later divided into: ** Leica Biosystems GmbH, a cancer diagnostics company ** Leica Camera AG, a German camera and optics manufacturer ** Leica Geosystems AG, a Swiss manufacturer of surveying and ...
. After his military service, he began photographing more seriously. After publishing his first book, ''Across Sinai'' (1957), Bar-Am gained work as a press photographer and in the editorial staff of the Israeli Army magazine, ''Ba-Mahaneh,'' from 1957 to 1967. In 1961 he covered the
Eichmann trial The Eichmann trial was the 1961 trial of major Holocaust perpetrator Adolf Eichmann who was Operation Eichmann, captured in Argentina by Israeli agents and brought to Israel to stand trial. Eichmann was a senior Nazi party member and served at t ...
. In 1967 he covered the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
, during which time he met Cornell Capa. Many of his war images brought him renown. Since 1968, he has been a correspondent for
Magnum Photos Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in Paris, New York City, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David Seymour (photographer), Davi ...
. In 1974 he helped Capa found the
International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...
in New York City. In 1968, Bar-Am also became the photographic correspondent from Israel for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
,'' a position he held until 1992. From 1977 to 1992, he was head of the department of photography at the
Tel Aviv Museum of Art The Tel Aviv Museum of Art ( ''Muzeon Tel Aviv Leomanut'') is an art museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. The museum is dedicated to the preservation and display of modern and contemporary art both from Israel and around the world. History The Tel Aviv ...
. He continues to work on his photography. He writes about his work:
I keep my internal eye open for that other, metaphorical image that transcends illustration to achieve a wholeness of its own. I strive for the elusive entity that is both evidence and evocation, public record and personal vision.
He says that he has adopted
Robert Capa Robert Capa (; born Endre Ernő Friedmann, ; October 22, 1913 – May 25, 1954) was a Hungarian-American war photographer and photojournalist. He is considered by some to be the greatest combat and adventure photographer in history.Kershaw, Al ...
's saying, "If your photographs aren't good enough, you weren't close enough," but has added a caveat:
If you're too close you lose perspective. It is not easy to be fair with the facts and keep your own convictions out of the picture. It is almost impossible to be both a participant in the events and their observer, witness, interpreter. The effort brings great frustration, and equally great reward.


Awards and recognition

*1985:
Fulbright Grant The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...
*1985: Golden Flamingo Award for Photographic Poster, Arles, France *1985: IBM Fellowship, Aspen, Colorado, USA *1985-86:
Nieman Fellow The Nieman Fellowship is a fellowship from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. It awards multiple types of fellowships. Nieman Fellowships for journalists The Nieman Fellowship is an award given to journalists by the Nieman ...
, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA *1993: Enrique Kavlin Prize, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel *2000:
Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...
for photography


Publications

*''Across Sinai''. Israel: Hakibbutz Hameuhad, 1957. *''Portrait of Israel''. USA: New York Times/American Heritage, 1970. *''The Jordan''. Israel: Massada, 1981. *''Jewish Sites in Lebanon''. USA: Moreshet Erets-Yisrael/Ariel, 1984. *''Painting With Light: The Photographic Aspect in the Work of E.M. Lilian''. Israel: Tel Aviv Museum of Art/Dvir, 1991. *''The Last War''. Israel: Keter, 1996. *''Israel: A Photobiography''. USA: Simon & Schuster, 1998. *''Insight: Micha Bar-Am's Israel''. London: Koenig / Israel: Open Museums, 2011. *''Southward: Micha Bar-Am, Photographs''. Israel: The Negev Museum of Art, 2013.


See also

*
List of Israel Prize recipients This is an incomplete list of recipients of the Israel Prize from the inception of the Prize in 1953 - 2025. List For each year, the recipients are, in most instances, listed in the order in which they appear on the official Israel Prize website ...
*
Visual arts in Israel Visual arts in Israel or Israeli art refers to visual art or Plastic arts, plastic art created by Israeli artists or Jewish painters in the Yishuv. Visual art in Israel encompasses a wide spectrum of techniques, styles and themes reflecting a ...
*
Israeli journalism There are over ten different languages in the Israeli media, with Hebrew as the predominant one. Press in Arabic caters to the Arab citizens of Israel, with readers from areas including those governed by the Palestinian National Authority. Duri ...


References


External links

*
International Center of Photography (ICP), Micha Bar-Am: Biography. By Kaitlin Vaughan

biography
an
portfolio
at Ultimate Art Gallery


Magnum biography

Micha Bar-Am
in the Collection of The
Jewish Museum (New York) The Jewish Museum is an art museum housed at 1109 Fifth Avenue, in the Felix M. Warburg House, along the Museum Mile on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. The museum holds a collection of approximately 30,000 objects, including ...

"Southward" exhibition at the Negev Museum of Art. ''Jerusalem Post'', 14 April 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bar-Am, Micha 1930 births Living people German Zionists Palmach members Magnum photographers Israel Prize in photography recipients Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine Israeli photojournalists Israeli photographers Israeli military personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Immigrants of the Fifth Aliyah