Learning From a Pro
Aperture Priorities Contact Sheet #11
By Joel Schalit
She was the first journalist in my family. At least in the twentieth century.
The last Hebrew-language announcer for the BBC, Hanush, as we called her (née Hannah) was better known to us as a translator.
Not just any, but the translator for Israel’s first respected military correspondent, Ze’ev Schiff (1932-2007), into English.
The late Ha’aretz journalist helped define the role for generations of reporters.
If I could, I’d give Hanush’s translations some of that credit, at least for Anglo correspondents.
Her English was practically native, and there was a precision to her grammar I haven’t heard anywhere else.
Sitting in her Tel Aviv apartment ten years ago, she put a box in my lap. Inside was her portfolio - or what was left of it.
A jumble of fading clips, some of which were articles for long-gone Israeli papers and photos, it was a time capsule of early Israeli news media.
What caught my eye the most was a photograph she’d taken of Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion.
It was the mid-1960s, and Hanush had bumped into him at a sidewalk sale in Jerusalem, browsing through used books.
Her camera handy, Ben-Gurion let her shoot him. He didn’t look the least bit self-conscious.
“I didn’t know you were a photographer,” I told her. “That’s a brilliant pic.”
“Thank you,” Hanush replied. “In those days, everyone was important here, and if you didn’t have a camera on you, you missed out.”
As someone into street photography, it made sense. I always carry a camera when I leave the house. But hearing my cousin frame it that way drove it home.
This week’s selection of photos was taken in that spirit, in Italy, not Israel. There is no Ben-Gurion in the mix, but there doesn’t need to be.
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Photographs courtesy of the author. All rights reserved.