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In November 2002, I moved from Tel Aviv to London and settled
in Soho, the centre of its gay life. Soho is full of posing, but
also full of feelings and emotions - loneliness, excitement, fear,
passion and self-discovery are all aspects of living in a big cosmopolitan
city.
I was fascinated by the amount of “strangers” in a
place where we were all “strangers”. Coming from Israel,
I was a foreigner like so many others who came over from another
country or another city. We are all foreigners among foreigners
here - everyone you lay your eyes on is a mystery, an enigma.
I was immediately taken by Soho’s vibrancy, with its endless
encounters in the streets - where so many eyes meet and then quickly
move away. Sometimes these glances last a moment longer and turn
into a smile. So many stories, languages, gestures, so many trapped
feelings behind those faces...
Two strangers meet and reveal to each other the most precious
secret they have - their intimacy - their naked bodies, their excited
breathing, their vulnerability, their morning-after-look. They give
to a complete stranger the greatest gift they can – their
“naked truth” – while most of the time they work
so hard to cover it up by means of fashion and codes of behaviour.
You may call these encounters "casual sex" or a "one
night stand ", but for me the experience of having someone
who only a moment ago was a mere stranger in the street, now lying
completely naked in your bed, closing his eyes next to you, giving
you the gift of full trust in his most vulnerable state –
is pure magic.
I selected my models very subjectively, often without having a
plan beforehand. Some sessions were triggered by a smile on the
street from a passer-by, a shy look in a bar, an erotic chat on
the internet, or just by following the body language of someone
across the street from my coffee table. Sometimes, a moment of intimacy
unexpectedly revealed itself during a professional photo session
for a model portfolio.
Those intimate moments only happened when my models ignored the
presence of the camera and let themselves go with their feeling,
fantasy, nature - during a playful moment, a relaxed nap, an unexpected
look, an unintended expression or a sexual activity. They gave me
their confidence and full trust. In those special moments I was
permitted to take a look into their intimate inside, and to reveal
my own intimacy.
All the people in these photos are very special strangers who
allowed me to witness and capture a special moment of intimate truth.
Thanks to that, they have gained a place in my heart. They are my
intimate strangers.
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