“The madness continued all the way

We live he said from Saturday to Saturday

Ideology and money do not go together

And the facts of life are as sharp as a knife

My name is Mister Love The Romantic Lie

Which sinks slowly into the big swamp

Begging on my knees that you will never be again

Goodbye youth Hello love”

Lyrics and melody: Yuval Banai

Jerusalem on July, 2020

Tembel is a derogatory word in the Hebrew slang for a man of low intelligence.

In July 1980 the Moscow Olympics is in full swing. Local media has been busy with it all, stars such as Nadia Comăneci have been competing in it, and the Western world - including Israel - has boycotted it and not taken part in games, amid tensions between the Cold War blocs. Among the plethora of news about the results of the games, there was only one small ad in the daily that told that Vladimir Wisotsky was dead.

Arcdhie Duchin literally translated Wisotzky's poems for Micha Shitrit, which reinterpreted them in Hebrew. Jonathan Geffen also helped them translate one song, "Tembel." Berry Sakharof was also enlisted to help.

The poem "Tembel (Dumb)" describes what happens to someone of low intelligence, who you wouldn't look at in the street. How this person is given the power to rule and control with rigidity and fear. In our words, it is called: "From being a slave to royalty".

The same idiot becomes a power-drunk and works only to increase his power. The poem describes a spiral process in which the man uses the power given to him and through the power he attains a higher status and controls more power until he reaches the king's position.

I do not know how it is said in the Russian origin, but Yehonatan Geffen describes it as "a man with testicle, but without a brain." The combination of power with the lack of discretion is a terrible danger.

Although the revolution took place in France, its general principles can also be applied in other countries, as indeed happened in the wars that tore Europe apart and in the "Arab Spring."

France was a country where doubt in religion was taken to the ultimate extreme. A country where questioning religion was automatically also questioning monarchy, since reverence for the king was based on the perception that monarchy was given to him by the grace of God. If there is no God at all - at least not one that personally interferes in human politics - then royalty is also a scam. It was the making of the king secular that opened the door for his removal.

In many ways, 1990 was similar to 1790. Both came after a period of tremendous change. 1790 was the year following the fall of the Bastille, while 1990 marked the first anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, two events celebrated as a festival of freedom. But these two forms of freedom were completely opposite. Only a few years ago we witnessed another social protest from the French, the "yellow vests" protest.

And yesterday in Balfour street, the people were fed up - people of all ages and across almost the entire political spectrum. People are fighting for their livelihoods. They point the finger of blame at the government and its leader. Only a handful of people blindly the current government.

Hi, I’m Shimi Cohen and I invite you to explore my work and to learn more about the photographer behind the lens.

I'm an engineer by profession but my passion is photography and mainly- street photography. The streets enchant me and I find myself drawn to them and their inhabitants every single free moment. People attract me and the streets challenge me and push me further inside in search of a good story.

I'm a story teller with a lens.