Being There: White Mountain

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Whitehall

The Judean desert on the outskirts of Jerusalem, where this photograph was taken has long been subject to political conflicts, wars and atrocities. Since biblical times it offered a shelter for prophets and political refugees. In our time the desert operates as a dividing front between Israel and the West bank. This picture is part of a series of images entitled Being There, which explore the gaps between what we understand of a place and its actual reality, the gaps between mythical notion and its tangible geography. The precise images which result from Gersht’s pain staking photographic process appear as statements to the fact of the location’s existence.

Born in Tel Aviv, Ori Gersht today lives and works in London. He studied photography, film and video at the University of Westminster (1989–1992) before completing an MA in Photography at the Royal College of Art (1993–1995). Gersht has successfully exhibited in many solo and group shows in London, New York, Tel Aviv and Berlin among other venues. His work features in international museum collections including Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Guggenheim Museum, New York and Tel Aviv Museum of Contemporary Art.

Places

Middle East, Israel

Subjects

topography, landscape C21st, mountain, desert, track, path

Materials & Techniques

aluminium, photograph (as object name), C-type photograph

Artist

Ori Gersht (1967 - )

Title

Being There: White Mountain

Edition

4/5

Date

2001

Medium

C-type photograph on aluminium

Dimensions

height: 98.00 cm, width: 249.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Andrew Mummery Gallery, August 2002

Inscription

none

GAC number

17736