Shai Ignatz: Monsieur Leri

A hotel rooftop with a translucent table, elegant white furniture, a potted kumquat plant, champagne, pralines, and a small espresso cup; straight white hair, impeccably styled in a sharp, close-cut bob, with every strand in its place. A watch and a bracelet and some coins, meticulously manicured hands and thin gold chains; a sporty yet elegant black and white blouse and oversized sunglasses, with shades in dark and a thin frame in gold.

The photographic works of Shai Ignatz are the product of a unique and exclusive relationship he weaves with his subjects. The photographic session — a continued encounter between photographer and photographed, often hidden away from the eyes of the beholder — makes up the space of this interaction.

 As Ignatz’s photographs reveal, the photographic session may be a tense situation to be in, however, embracing and protective. Although essentially based on an unequal dialogue, in front of Ignatz’s camera, it generates an imagined space where one may reenact a private fantasy.