Mea-Shearim
by Ori Levi
My first photography trip to Mea-Shearim was in 2012. And since then, it is my favourite place for street photography. Mea-Shearim is a “Haredi” jewish (orthodox) neighbourhood at Jerusalem. This neighborhood had kept its character since a long time ago. Walking through its streets makes you feel like it is the early 20th century.
The notices on the walls and message boards of Mea-Shearim tells its story. Since no internet or television is allowed (not kosher), the walls are full of all sorts of notices. Death notices, rabbai decisions, items for sale, public announcements and political opinions. This makes a great background for street photography, and an interesting reading when passing by.
The most interesting thing in Mea-Shearim is its people. Their clothes are always black and white, which makes it so easy to choose to picture in black and white. I have noticed that even if I choose colour, people think that it is a black and white image.
The children of Mea-Shearim grow a little differently. They usually have a large family of 5-8 brothers and sisters, living in a relative small apartments. The big brothers help rising the small ones. When they walk the streets it looks like a group of children with 1 year age difference between them. And occasionally they wear similar clothes.
Another great thing about Mea-Shearim is its narrow streets, which make the sun glimpse into them for a short time of the day and makes very interesting shadows. The shadows combined with black and white clothes makes it a great scene to photograph. You could come back after one hour to the same street, and see something completely different.
Mea-Shearim people have kept their religious ceremonies and rituals as it was 100 or 200 years ago. The “caparot” ritual is used to pass the human sins to a chicken. Some people could see it as wrong, but I think that it is not for the photographer to judge them.
