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Susan Eisenstein: Yoav Cohen Israel Photography: Bring A Piece of Hidden Israel to Your Space

Yoav Cohen’s Tel Aviv, Israel-based business, Yoav Cohen Israel Photography, makes it easy to bring amazing hidden insights of

Israel into whatever space you wish. And it all started with what Yoav first viewed as being only a hobby. “Photography had always been “just a hobby,” said Yoav Cohen. “And many people have been kind enough along the way to give me positive feedback. When I started posting on social media, a friend of mine from New York asked if her mom could purchase a photo of mine for her living room. Just one week later, I was placed third in a local photography competition, and from there, additional orders came in. To date I have had the privilege of seeing my photos in places all around the world, from Taiwan to Los Angeles. Alongside the photos themselves, I have also given talks about this journey, and it has even more meaning now, following two years of conflict since October 7, 2023. That is also a part of the business and my personal story that I hope to continue to develop.”

 

Yoav is married to Maya and together they have three children. The family lives near Tel Aviv. In his day job, Cohen is a high-tech professional, and alongside the everyday course of things, he is active in reserves in the Border Guards regiment, where he is a company commander. During the War, Swords of Iron, Yoav Cohen served close to 280 days in reserves.

 

Yoav Cohen was first drawn to photography when he was a young boy, and from that time on, he could not resist “photography’s voice.”  He says that “the first time I picked up a camera was when I was about 9 years old. I took our family’s point-and-shoot film camera to the zoo on a school field trip. My mother told me to take up to 10 pictures and not finish up the film because she did not have any more. I came back home with a finished film spool and when we got the pictures developed, most were of my finger covering blurred animals. But I was hooked on the sound of the click, the idea that I could capture a moment, and keep it.”

“Since then, I want to believe that I have gotten a bit better. I don’t have formal training, but over the years, I have learned the rules and when to break them. I’ve experimented with urban photography, events and families, and touched on photo-journalism. But my main draw is to landscapes and the outdoors, and exploring Israel through new and exciting angles that drone photography opens.”

 

Through his photography, Yoav Cohen tries to communicate both the visual as well as the story behind the places he visits.. “So many amazing stories are right in front of our eyes, and we don’t even see them.,” Yoav explains. “In the heart of Tel Aviv, you have three thousand years of hidden history. You have the ruins of an Assyrian Tel Qudadi fortress, on top of which sits a British WWI memorial, on top of which sits the Reading Lighthouse built after the Arab Revolt in 1936. You can literally see the layers of history in front of your eyes when you take a picture from the right angle. Beyond that, for all its complexities, Israel is also a land of amazing beauty and hidden gems, and I want to show these to the world.”

Cohen said, “most of the photos I take are places that I know and research quite a bit. When the time is right – weather, season, day, etc – I try to capture the best angle I can, and tell the story of the place or event. It’s not always easy, but when the opportunity arrives to drive 2 hours to see an amazing sunrise up north or in the desert, I’ll drag myself out of bed because I know it will be worth it most times. I’ve also had the opportunity to take my kids with me on some photography outings. As they get older they are also getting into the hobby – so it’s quality family time as well. There is so much to discover outdoors, that every trip – even if it’s to the same location time and again – brings a new experience. There are also little-known places that you get to discover, like this memorial to Ofir Zioni built by his family after he fell. I spent a rainy morning in the mud learning about Ofir’s legacy and running around the fields in the area with my camera and drone. I got to tell Ofir’s story through the landscape and his memorial, which to me brings everything together.”

Yoav Cohen Israel Photography has also won a number of local and international competitions, among them, ISF India in 2023, DJI Israel 2023 and National Geographic Israel in 2022. and was featured on Times of Israel’s homepage, Channel 11 and Channel 14 in Israel, with various photos that he captured. And although unfortunately due to the war, most of his photography got put on hold, Yoav is back on a path to get back on track, not just with capturing photos, but also putting together exhibitions and lectures on this journey.

 

Yoav Cohen told Seen Israel, “I believe my photography opens a new way to look at landscapes and portrays Israel in new ways, some that have never been seen before. Israel has a lot to offer beyond the classic Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and telling this story is in my own way a shlichut, a mission, which I’m deeply passionate about.”

For more information: https://www.yoavphotography.com/

www.instagram.com/I.am.yoav