Three Donkeys, a Thousand Doves, Some Crows and a Chevrolet Pickup
The photographer who ripped apart his hunting license
Dorothea Lange once said: “A camera teaches how to see without a camera”. That, to me, signifies the moment in which an instant photo becomes eternal. The photographer marks a target, captures it and within less than a minute can invite the viewers to swallow it with their eyes. It sounds violent. It sounds like trespassing. That’s reality.
Yuval Chen, for example, did not get the Donkey’s consent to become his model. The doves flew a few hundred meters over- head and a Chevi-pickup does not exactly get a say in any matter. The photographer who ripped apart his hunting license.
Yuval Chen uses common artwork as a means to reach the uncommon. He shoots in nature, but says immediately: this is not the nature that “National Geographic” photos capture. It is less heroic.He prefers the tale of a Donkey to the roar of a Lioness, the wing of a Dove to the burning eyes of a falcon. In other words, he gives nature the benefit of the doubt.
