The Western concept of delicacy has its roots in the European ethos that developed in the 18th and 19th centuries and placed great emphasis on the question of good taste, that which is refined and elegant. Perhaps it is not surprising that this is the very same ethos that - then and now - sought to dominate this particular view of delicacy, in a less delicate way, on people who did not share it.
But for me, the delicacy embodied in this series by long-time collaborators Asaf Einy and Shay Lee Nissim, as well as in the body of their work spanning seven years, is almost reversed by this definition. It derives less from a defined aesthetic and purpose (and certainly not “western" influences), and more from a movement of searching - which can sometimes appear as immobility; as settling down and being content with a small, existing space. This is a movement that knows how to spread but also retreat; dispossessing itself from the notion of taking over its environment and crossing borders. It seeks to show us what is a beautiful form of existence, yet without the demand that everyone adopt this point of view.
This particular delicacy was and remains a rare commodity, because by its very nature it does not seek to be duplicated and expand. It is this rarity that makes the images of these young, 30-something creators from south Tel Aviv, unmistakable.
Just as their signature works are unmistakable, it is impossible to find parallel examples of their unique form of collaboration. While there are certainly creative duos working in the local and international fashion and art industry, their dual language, as well as their driving force, is consistently derived from a deep belief in individualism and differentiation.
On the surface, the division of roles is clear, Einy is a photographer and artist who moves between documentary and fashion in all areas of his work; Nissim is a costume designer, stylist, and art director. Nevertheless, when they come together under these definitions, it seems that traditional hierarchies and roles become redundant and fall by the wayside. The expression of this can be seen in the results: unusual images in their harmony and subtlety, despite the tensions stored in them. They purposefully, yet intuitively, move towards this climax of tension.
The two work together on various productions in magazines in Israel and abroad, as well with many joint commercial clients whom they’ve accompanied over the years, taking an active part in building the brand's visual language. In addition, their individual work is intriguing in its own flexibility and multidisciplinary nature: Einy is a Bezalel graduate with group exhibitions, a solo exhibition, and two photography books under his belt. The most recent, Say Something About The Sea (Sternthal Publishing), will be published in July 2024.
In recent years, Nissim has been shooting a continuous video documentary spanning her knowledge and passion for fashion and aesthetics unbound by conventional definitions. Part of it was revealed on Instagram, part of it is starting to get museum exposure, and part of it is kept in a drawer.
I talked shop with the two about what it’s like working together, what they find beautiful, and where they find their sense of place and perspective. As in their work, the conversation brought their two voices together, unsurprisingly, they answered me in the first person plural.
Maayan: Your work has always marked and located a certain notion of beauty, that is, among other things, in tune with the Middle Eastern, and more specifically, Arab aesthetic. How does the war, and these times of hostility in the region, effect it?
A+S: First of all, the current period really effected our morale and motivation to take pictures. It's hard to dive into escapist worlds at the moment; the mind doesn't always manage to devote itself to this refuge. And beyond that, there is a material aspect. Some of our basic infrastructures were damaged - including the exposure in international platforms, contacts with magazine editors, and brands from abroad. Also, in this sense, it is more difficult to produce new materials.
But in relation to the question, at the level of our inspirations, the people we photograph, and our concepts - we don't feel that anything has changed. We have been, and we believe we will always be, engaged in local aesthetics from an observational stand point - always influenced by real-life documentation. The definition of what is local is always a matter of perspective: for us it is about people who live next to us and places we see in our daily life in south Tel Aviv and Jaffa, where we live.
Maayan: Let's start a moment from the end of your process. If you could engineer the viewer's experience with your images, both in this production specifically and in general, what would you like it to be?
A+S: As viewers of photography and art ourselves, we like to experience an immediate and inexplicable feeling of amazement - to be washed over with confusion, as well as the desire to understand: how was this made?
Maayan: Following the viewer's question: What kind of narrative do you want to create? What will the viewer understand about the relationship between those who are photographed and a sense of place? About how they evolved into the particular clothes they are wearing?
A+S: We strive to create harmony in the connection between the photographed and the place. The harmony can be colorful or formal, or even one based on contrast - the collision between the components produces something new. We are motivated by creating characters and weaving a certain story around them. Our starting point may be the model (we ask ourselves - what character does he portray in our eyes?), or it may be the place and the clothes (what characters do the clothes we've decided on "ask" from us?). The basis of many of the productions we’ve worked on together has been an attempt to combine and articulate masculinity (that is, fragile masculinity) from this trinity: place, clothes, photography. In addition, we try to create a thin layer of tension or irony that hovers over the characters photographed and the situation they are in. We use it to extract this delicacy from them.
Maayan: Tell me about what your creative collaboration actually looks like.
A+S: In the case of this editorial, we found the location after we had known for some time that we wanted to photograph Hillel (Hillel is the model sitting and reading a newspaper in a suit). From these two variables we started to build the narrative. In the next step, we realized that we wanted to combine tailored and oversized looks with everyday clothing, one that would blend in with the old school aesthetic of the house. For the direction of the clothes, we decided to dress the boys as kids disguised as adults. According to this, we started the casting process.
In general, from the moment the basic ideas are understood, we talk a lot about the clothes, passing ideas between us that we like, that intrigue us, that can create interest in the frame. We think of props to tighten the concept and prepare a brief for the day of the shoot to create a production order. On the day of the shoot itself, after a lot of thought, conversations, and gathering inspiration, we allow ourselves to act intuitively, react to things and ideas that pop up on set, identify what works and what doesn't, and try to be present. In all of this, we know that we can rely on the rich conceptual infrastructure that we laid out in the process of preparing for a photo day. If we feel that we have deviated from the idea or that something in the plan has been undermined, we stand aside and try to remind each other what excites us, what our strengths are, and spur each other towards solutions.
Maayan: In Assaf's new book, he is defined as someone who continuously chooses to cast mainly minorities, photographing the periphery, and ignoring the center (aesthetically, socio-culturally, and geographically). These choices are, of course, also present in your joint work in the fields of commercial and editorial fashion, and this alongside the unconventional way in which you operate as collaborators. How, as a result, is your photo shoot different compared to the ones we are more familiar with, on the rigid hierarchies between the team and the photographed/and within the team itself?
A+S: Both of us do not hold self-concepts of power in mind, nor the need for hierarchies, such as what may be typical in the advertising and fashion industries. We are even quite shy, as humans, at least in initial interactions. In many of our productions we also do not work with large budgets or with budgets at all (since we are talking about productions that are independent and creative). For these reasons, we initially come from a position that wants to build and simply create something beautiful - together. We are very intrigued by people and places and want to create an experience for them that will succeed in being positive and even pleasant, amid the pressure and load that comes from the typical aspects of creating a production.
Also in our relationship, we learned over time that our work can only be done with full cooperation and equality. We need each other both to formulate the vision and to fully bring it to life, and therefore every production is a product of the dialogue between us. We make sure to share the tasks between us also in the production and operational aspects and always work with a common budget.
Maayan: I always see in your work a longing for a certain kind of "beautiful" and finding it in glimpses that in no way have a general consensus around them. Do you seek this out specifically? How would you define your kind of beauty?
A+S: It depends on where you look from, which perspective you use. Our "beautiful" will not be beautiful in everyone's eyes. We are influenced by the content we consume, by the feelings and atmosphere we recognize in our references. The question we always hold as important is - what moves us? Many times, the answer to this question emerges from a longing for beauty, for exoticism, to turn the gaze to a place that is considered neglected and "not beautiful", or at least not beautiful at the moment; for feelings of nostalgia, for moments that have something fragile, delicate in them. We assume that there really isn't a definition for our particular type of beauty, it changes all the time. What defines it is mainly the look and the way it meets you, as a viewer.
