Thanks a lot for your kind words.
I'm on this project on/off for three years.
The idea came when I got my son hospitalized there some five years ago.
The second Intifada was raging outside, and I was there, in the playing room of the pediatric department, exchanging smiles with an arab woman with whom I had no common language while our sons where playing together with no language at all.
I had this very strong feeling of some kind of demilitarized island in the epicenter of a war. That was the trigger. It took me two more years to think that it is possible, meet the hospital spokesperson, the hospital direction and set the modus operandi of the work.
I have to say that I am still amazed of the openness of all the chain of people I had to convince to do this work, from the direction, through the staff in each department, up to most of the people I asked to shoot in the hospital.
I have the strongest feeling that this work wouldn't have been possible in Europe or the US. People here, at all levels didn't fear from photography the way I sense in other countries in the west. I have to add that the inconspicious and un-threatening nature of the Leica had I great part in my ability of "vanishing" after I asked the people if they would mind me taking pictures. After two three clicks, most of them would simply loose interest and I could shoot tens of pictures thus allowing a "good one" to appear.
Well, the last department was the pediatrics and it was very hard at times. The last day I was there, the nurse responsibe of the CF children day care told me that one of the men appearing in a picture has since then passed away. I really felt exshausted by the whole project and decided that I'm done.
I'm moving next week to the US where I'll try to find a way to publish this story.
