2018 MJCC Israeli Artist in Residence, Erez Kaganovitz.

Erez is the Human behind Humans of Tel Aviv. A lover of photography and storytelling, he studied Journalism and International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, but discovered his passion for photography in India on the banks of the Ganga river.

After finishing his studies, he moved to Tel Aviv where he discovered a place where every character in the city had their own story, attitude, and unique perspective just waiting to be uncovered. This unbelievable sense of diversity coupled with his curiosity brought him to wander the streets of Tel Aviv with his camera.

In the beginning, he just posted the pictures and stories to his Facebook about, but in 2012, he stumbled upon Humans of New York. After 24 hours, he decided to open his own ‘Humans of’ page, but to give it a personal twist. To date he’s taken nearly 1000 portraits and stories, and has met the most fascinating Humans Tel Aviv has to offer along the way.

While in Memphis, Erez will lecture on the social fabric of Tel Aviv, sharing what he’s learned through his art, and using the life stories of different ‘Humans’ to offer a ‘Tel Aviv 101’ insight into the most liberal and diverse city in the Middle-East. He will also speak about how Tel Aviv serves as a laboratory to explore democracy, human rights, and the public sphere, and offer a public workshop where participants will learn the art of telling stories with street photography.

Erez's residency project will be to create a ‘Humans of Jewish Memphis’ that we can cherish and share for years to come.