Tbilisi Dream

This art book features photographs taken in Georgia between 2009 and 2015. It was published in a trilingual edition (English, Georgian, and Hebrew, Itay Bahur Publishing, 2017), and was chosen to represent 25 years of diplomatic relations between Georgia and Israel. Works from it were shown in a solo exhibitions at the University of Gori, Georgia (2022) and the Basis Art School in Herzlya, Israel (2017).
The photographs are empathetic and intimate, free from idealization, arrogance, and emptiness. They reflect an experience of a languageless encounter with strangers and the formation of momentary human closeness.
The locations of the photographs include markets, streets, train and metro stations, underground passages, and remote neighborhoods. The photographs reflect different aspects of life – wealth and poverty, joy and sadness, and various faces of reality in a country that has experienced different regimes, presidents, and revolutions. Georgia is still changing and evolving, colorful and exciting.
Most of the photographs are of people and are charged with sentimental tension. Some people look directly at the photographer and the camera, some are curious, some smile insecurely, and some were uncomfortable being photographed.
The photographer also faced embarrassment and overcame it during the candid and intimate photo shoot. These moods charge the photographs with emotional tension and convey the experience of discovering a different human environment, getting familiar with it, and creating trust and closeness.