A few months ago I made a phone call to Bill Cramer, the founder of Wonderful Machine. Bill was very friendly (I remember it was a holiday eve but he was still at the office) and he answered all my questions I wanted to ask about his company, while I was debating if I should join Wonderful Machine or not.
Wonderful Machine is an online interface which provides clients with the most comprehensive source of high quality photographers doing all kinds of work, all over the world. Bill and his team are quite selective about the photographers they show, they list them only in locations where they actually live, and only in specialties in which they are highly proficient.
For us, the photographers, is a great way to be exposed to new clients and different assignments, stock requests and so on. After I hung up the phone with Bill, I felt very confident to join the site.
And indeed…good things started to happen. I do believe it is a combination of my hard work as well and the face-to-face interactions I make an effort to maintain with photo editors and colleagues. Few days ago Wonderful Machine mentioned me on their Spotlight page and wrote few facts you should know…
…She doesn’t watch TV, but swims every morning. Was introduced to photography by her Father, who always carried his Nikon around with him. Grew up in Israel, but moved to New York at age 26 where she resided for 12 years. Recently shot a double-spread for Conde Nast Traveller…
I was so thrilled the other day to get an email from the Photo Editor of the New Review magazine, part of The Independent on Sunday.
‘I’ve seen your project “Intimacy Under the Wires” and I thought it wold be good for our Portfolio section which is a double page spread in the mag featuring photography’ she wrote me and I couldn’t hide my excitement. I emailed one of my London friends right away to make sure The Independent is a well respected magazine, and more over, to let him know to be on the look out from now on.
The day after I got a list of questions from one the writers and my Portfolio was scheduled to be published on Sunday, November 24.
To read the full interview with me and also find out my age (yes, they mentioned that) you can see here.
To see the highlights of ‘Intimacy Under the Wires’ project, you can find here on my website.
So excited to have one of my favorite snow images featured as a double spread opener for the Holiday story ‘New York, New Traditions’ in Conde Nast Traveller, December Holiday Issue. Conde Nast Traveller is one of the leading Travel magazines in the US and the World.
This image is part of a series of snow images I took during the winter of 2009. It was a snowy morning weekend when kids just want to go out and play with their slides in the park. I was coming out of the gym on 63rd and Central Park West and started to walk home. (I always walk along the Park). I’ve noticed the kids and their parents, and of course, the colorful clothes. I didn’t have my camera with me so I walked home (Thank God I live 3 blocks away from the Park), I dropped my gym bag in my apartment and grabbed my camera. When I got back to the park I was happy to discover more kids with more colorful winter clothes playing outdoors. I liked how the colors just popped out in the whiteness of the snow. The series of these snow images became one of my favorites.
“…Who can resist a holiday season in New York? Certainly not us (nor millions of tourists, for that matter). It’s when the city is at its buoyant best, when everything seems most shimmering and magical. In honor of our favorite time of year, we rounded up the places you’ll want to visit after the places you came to visit. So welcome to our city- because this month, it’s your city too…”
…Let’s face it-If you’re in New York during the holidays, you’re going to find yourself doing one of the things every tourist does. You (or someone in your crew) will want to try out the ice-skating rink at Rockefeller Center. You’ll go to The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center. You won’t be able to resist the sparkling Christmas tree in Washington Square Park. Nor should you. After all, Christmas in New York is all about these beloved traditions, for tourists and, yes, us locals as well. But we wanted to give you some traditions you’ll love as much as the old ones. And so we opened our little black books to share the restaurants, bars, best-kept secrets, and moments we know you’ll adore, whether it’s the oysters-and stout happy hour at the John Dory Oyster Bar (one of the city’s best deals, and just steps from Macy’s gloriously vibrant windows) or the perfect cozy place to rest your feet (with a martini, of course) after an always-awe inspiring (and always exhausting) day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. All you need is a good pair of shoes, a good deal of stamina…and this guide. Who knows? You may even see one of us right there with you….
If you don’t have a chance to grab a hard copy of Conde Nast Traveller, here is the article on line.
Few months ago I was contacted by the Art Director of Mercedes Benz Magazine, asking to see some of my images of Tokyo. I was thrilled to share and send some of my favorite images of this magnificent city. In fact, I was waiting for the right opportunity to post them. I can’t think of a better mach of these high end images of Tokyo with such a luxury brand such as Mercedes Benz.
The article is about the simplicity of Japanese aesthetics surprisingly to be found in the expensive shopping districts, Omotesando and Ginza, both I had the opportunity to shoot during my 72 hours in Tokyo.
The article talks about some of the greatest malls in Tokyo, architecture, shopping and of course The Mercedes Benz Connection in Tokyo.
If you are not a Mercedes Benz owner, chances are you will not have a chance to read the magazine… But here is a sneak peek of it.
There is one thing to live in a city and another thing is to write about it.
Despite the fact I haven’t been living in Tel Aviv for twelve years now, my ‘Israelism’ grant me the title of a Tel Aviv expert among the readers abroad. I’ve been writing about Tel Aviv to EasyJet Blog, than a detailed article to Resource Magazine and my recent Tel Avivism article is Tel Aviv City Guide on DesignSponge.
I had to divide Tel Aviv to areas, such as The North and Tel Aviv Port, City Center, The Heart of Tel Aviv and the White City, The South part of the city and of course, Jaffa.
Here is a detailed list of restaurants, hotels, shops, studios and cultural locations in Tel Aviv, the city that never sleeps. Highly recommend to bookmark this list when you next travel to Tel Aviv.
Thanks Amy, Grace and Stephanie for this great opportunity.
Since my recent visit to Flanders on July, I’ve written a few articles about Antwerp; The main one was my Wanderlist on AFAR Magazine, on my blog and the recent one, for At Magazine, a Fashion and Lifestyle magazine in Israel. The article is about Antwerp and my recommendations where to shop, dine and what to do. I like the layout and how it came out. Hope it makes the readers book a flight to Antwerp.
In the first week of August, I got an email from the Photo Researcher of Lonely Planet Traveller magazine in the UK, asking me If I was available for a shoot. ‘We would like to do a New York story with a focus on iconic NY food and classic NY city scenes…It is for our November issue, so the turn around would need to be quite quick’.
Of course I didn’t want to miss that opportunity. Even though I was quite busy with a different project, I loved the idea of eating my way through NYC…
Yes, I’ve been living in New York for 12 years now, but there is always something new to discover. And even though I knew the majority of the iconic food locations, I didn’t try the food in all of them. That was the perfect excuse and opportunity.
I’m kidding.
I love shooting my city and I’m honored to work with a great magazine, such as the Lonely Planet Traveller. It was an intense week of shooting in which I’ve been eating all kinds of foods I usually don’t eat and searching rooftops and views of New York, that I have always wanted to shoot.
In case you are traveling to New York soon and want some recommendations and locations (and you didn’t have a chance to get the magazine) here are some suggestions:
Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory: When you get to Dumbo in Brooklyn and head toward the East River, you might see long lines of people standing outside what used to be a fireboat house back in the 20′s. Don’t get intimidated as these long lines will lead you to one of the mythological ice cream places in Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. Forget about rocky road, salted caramel or chili flavors. The factory has just eight classic all natural flavors: Vanilla, chocolate, vanilla chocolate chunk, strawberry, chocolate-chocolate chunk, peaches and cream, butter pecan and coffee. The cones are wrapped with a paper cone of the American flag and Patriotism never tasted so good.
Gray’s Papaya Hot Dogs: The combination of greasy hot dog and a papaya drink, is apparently a success combination for 41 years now in New York City. Mr. Gray, who first opened Gray’s Papaya in 1973, succeeded in making his hot dogs into a brand name in Manhattan. There are two locations in the city; one in the West Village and the second one in the Upper West Side (on 72nd and Broadway) which is opened for 24 hours and draws in the masses. Gray’s does classic NYC frank: all-beef in a natural casing, which is grilled and served on a toasted bun with sauerkraut and spicy brown mustard. It has the best price in the city.
Zucker’s Bagels: New York city is well known for its bagels. The combination of bagel, cream cheese and lox (thinly sliced smoked salmon) is a well known trademark here. It goes back to the early 1900 when Jewish immigrants in the Lower East Side used to sell the bagels from pushcarts. Few years later, the pushcarts in New York sell hotdogs, pretzels or halal food, and the bagel and lox is well sold in delis and special bakeries such as Zucker’s. During my shoot in the Midtown East Location, I had the honor to meet Matt Pomerantz, the owner and founder of Zucker’s, the authentic NYC hand-rolled, kettle-boiled bagel. He opened his first shop in 1994 after quitting his job in Wall Street to pursue the family business, a love of bagels and great food. He named Zucker’s after his mother, Roslyn Marilyn Zucker Pomerantz.
Dun-well Doughnuts: It’s an improbable fact that Homer Simpson is the inspiration behind a vegan doughnut shop in New York, but it is a fact, nonetheless. Watching an episode of The Simpsons one night, Christopher Hollowell badly craved a doughnut but he couldn’t find a vegan version anywhere in New York. He called his best friend and fellow vegan Dan Dunbar, and together they hatched a plan to open the city’s first dairy-free doughnut shop. They chose the bohemian, hipsterish location in Montrose Ave in Brooklyn and together they make more than 200 flavors in rotation, from traditional varieties such as glazed, chocolate and jam-filled to inventive concoctions such as root beer, tangerine basil and black liquorice. And I didn’t even mention the great coffee.
Roberta’s Pizza: ‘If you want to find the best pizza in New York, you should head to Bushwick and try out Roberta’s’ That’s what one of my friends told when I was asking around for the best pizza in town. Sometimes it is better to ask a man about a pizza. I was happy to discover that Roberta’s is in Bushwick, as recently this neighborhood is getting my attention due to the big graffiti scene there. When I got to Roberta’s, I have realized I passed through their door few times before, without knowing that behind the red curtain, there is one of the best pizza in town. The restaurant is located in what used to be a car garage and now it has a garden and a greenhouse which produces some of the restaurant’s herbs and vegetables. Indoors you can find the kitchen with the smoky, wood-fired brick oven which produces the divine pizza. Some of the slices you should try are The Bee Sting, a tomato, mozzarella and sopressata (Italian dry salami) chilli and honey or Carlos Danger, a parmigiano, squash, fresnos (chilli peppers), onion and chilli oil. That was my fave.
Katz’s Deli: I’m sure you are all familiar with the episode in “When Harry met Sally” when Meg Ryan’s faked an orgasm… Well, that was in Katz’s Deli, and Sally ordered the pastrami on rye. Katz’s opened 125 years ago in the Jewish area of the Lower East Side. ‘It was established on Ludlow Street in New York’s Lower East Side by the Iceland brothers. Upon the arrival of Willy Katz in 1903, the name of the store was changed from Iceland Brothers to Iceland & Katz. Willy’s cousin Benny joined him in 1910, buying out the Iceland brothers to officially form Katz’s delicatessen. Their landsman Harry Tarowsky bought into the partnership in April 1917. A move to the present side of the street was necessitated during this time by the construction of the subway system, although the entry remained on Ludlow street. The vacant lot on Houston (named after a Dutch emigrant of the same name) Street was home to barrels of meat and pickles until the present storefront facade was added in the period 1946-49′. The pastrami is cured the same way, using the same secret ingredients and is still cut by hand to order. Even the original storefront sign remained back from the 40′s and the archaic ticketing system; a ticket is given on arrival, food gets charged to it and a fine of $50 is charged if it is lost! This has been one of the most iconic locations in the Lower East Side and quite crowded most of the time.
Lady M Cheese Cake: One of the best things in this shooting assignment was to discover new places and try out the food. I first saw the Lady M Cheese Cake boutique during one of my lunch breaks in Bryant Park. I was taking a class at ICP on 43rd and 6th and lunch breaks are spent in Bryant Park. I have noticed the white-only interior and the colorful crafted cakes waiting for me to eat them. I was so happy to discover that Lady M Cheese Cake was on the list so I could have a closer look at the beautiful cakes and fanciful desserts that were presented like jewelry behind the counter glass. If you make it to one of Lady M Cheese Cake boutiques (there are two locations in the city, one in Bryant Park and one in the Upper East Side) I highly recommend and urge you to try the signature Mille Crepe; more than 20 crepes layered with pastry cream with gatueau fromage.
Clover Club Cocktail Bar: Named after a famous, late 19th century men’s club, the Clover Club in Cobble Hill Brooklyn serves fizzes, sours, juleps, royales and crystal bowls of punch atop its mahogany bar. The back of the bar is designed as a Victorian era saloon and it usually hosts private parties. One of the reasons to head to Clover Club is the head bartender, Tom Macy, who is well trained and experienced in making creative cocktails using fresh juices, house-made syrups and seasonal ingredients. The Clover Club Cocktail is a mix of gin, fresh lemon juice, house-made raspberry syrup and an egg-white mix to turn it from a fruity gin drink to something more grown up.
Over a year ago, I have launched a new photography service for my clients called ‘New Yorker for a Day’.
The service was mostly targeted to tourists who visited New York City and wanted to have a collection of high quality- fashion-New York style- images to take with them back home. The ‘New Yorker for a Day’ became quite a success and I got calls and requests from people all over the Globe. I was even mentioned in a magazine in Australia!. Among my clients were French girls who came to New York to celebrate a Birthday, a newly wed couple (He is Israeli, she is Swedish) who visited New York and he surprised her with that session. A bride to be who got it as a gift from one of her NY’s friends, a woman who came to New York with her teenager daughter and many more who just wanted to have fun and get a memorable and different souvenir from the city.
People really loved it and in the first opportunity I had, I offered it in Paris and shot ‘Parisian for a Day’ .
I am a true believer that as a photographer, if I want to give my clients a better service and connect with them in a more professional level, I’d better go through the ‘New Yorker for a Day’ myself. If I be in front of the camera and not behind it, as I usually am, I will be able to direct/connect with my clients better.
That was when I asked a good friend of mine and a talented photographer Olga Miranova to take pictures of me in my favorite neighborhood, the West Village and walk in the pictorial streets I usually hang out such as Morton, Hudson, Charles and Perry.
Here is the ‘New Yorker for a Day’ my turn…
‘Israel’s cool coastal city is an electrifying mix of stylish hotels and high design landmarks- all along miles of white- sand beaches’
This is how Tel Aviv is described in the October issue of Travel+Leisure magazine.
Last April I was contacted by one of the Photo Editors of Travel+Leisure Magazine, asking me if I was by any chance in Tel Aviv and available for a shoot. The timing was perfect and I was assigned to shoot the monthly column T+L Decoder for Tel Aviv. The Decoder is actually the definitive guide which covers the best places to Eat, See, Shop and Stay in one city. Tel Aviv was chosen for October issue. Needless to say how excited I was and honored to shoot Tel Aviv. A few days later I got a list of places and locations I had to cover. As someone who lives in New York for a while now and comes to Tel Aviv for holiday visits, I must admit I was thrilled to discover new locations in the city and capture them from a different point of view. Not a local.
Beside shooting the various locations, I also had to keep in mind an interesting, graphic and impressive image for the guide’s cover. When I mentioned it to some of the ‘objects’, they got enrolled and excited and all wanted to be chosen for the cover. When I was in need for people as objects, some of my friends happily volunteered to be photographed as they also wanted to see me in my ‘working mode’.
The article was written by David Kaufman, a great NY based writer who, as I’ve heard, loves Tel Aviv. Here is the online version of the article. (I highly recommend to download the interactive iPad version)
Hope this article and the images will take you soon to Tel Aviv.
Hey Ladies!
If you want to see young guys talking about laundry detergents or getting some folding tricks, head towards WasBar (available in Gent and Antwerp, Flanders)
WasBar is a winning concept of a launderette and a cafe, which is now getting a twist and raising its functional appeal with the addition of a hairdresser and a working space, all under one roof in a well designed space.
Here is a great clip that explains about the place and its concept.
The founders of WasBar are two young guys, Dries Henau and Yuri Vandenbogaerde, both live in Gent, known as a University city, with lots of students who live in dorms or student apartments that sometimes lack the laundry machines. Dries and Yuri themselves, used to take their laundry to their mothers during the weekend, and I guess at a certain point they got tired of it. They asked themselves ‘What does the student want?’ They came out with the assumption that students want to spend their time more usefully and enjoy while waiting for the whirring machines.
So they decided to create a special place for that.
Their concept won a TV competition for young entrepreneurs (The flemish version of The Apprentice) and they opened the space in Gent on October 2012 and recently expanded to Antwerp.
Dries and Yuri pay attention for everything. They chose a young and hype design studio, PinkEye which created a suitable designed and colorful space for the students and the young professionals in Gent. I loved the graphic identity of the place; from a clothes-pin crossed with a bottle opener logo, to the pink-light blue and mint green color palette, not to mention that each laundry machine has a name! The laundry machines are named after women while the tumble dryers are named after men.
The space is opened till 10pm and there is no better thing than overhearing two young guys in their 20s discussing laundry matters.
