Recently Yariv Fein was crowned one of the most influential photographers in Israel. Professionally, he has made a name for himself as a photographer shooting for major fashion campaigns. Privately, his breathtaking portraits of diverse populations has been equally well received.
“My interest in photography probably started when I was a child,” says Yariv. “There are a lot of photos of me with a camera in my hand. My father loved to take photos, but personally I got really into taking photos before the army service. I started documenting friends, trips, and nightlife… at first it wasn’t professional but as time went by, I realized it was the something I was passionate about. I think what attracted me was the ability to capture moments and preserve them forever – and over time the photos again create new memories.”
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The beginning of Yariv's journey
Yariv's career as a photographer began with experimenting with fashion photography. He became an apprentice to Miri Davidovich, a famous fashion photographer, and with her he learned the ropes of photography.
“I had a mentor named Miri Davidovich who is a highly regarded fashion photographer in the Israeli industry. For 5 years Miri taught me everything about photography theory of the fashion industry and for that I am very grateful to her. It was the best university I could dream of and after studying from her I felt I had all the tools, I made the decision that it was time to embark on an independent path. ״
״The first projects I got were non-commercial fashion articles for magazines. And there, you can really show what you got. The beginning was challenging, I worked around the clock and did not stop for a moment. Over time and of course gradually, most of the fashion magazines in Israel began to recognize and appreciate my work and introduced me into the industry. With that reputation, the number of projects grew and so did the budgets, so no doubt the hard work paid off.״
“Nowadays if you are a young photographer you have so many options with independent advertising capabilities. When I started my career, there was nowhere to publish except magazines and newspapers, it was used as my personal portfolio. The new era is much more accessible and easy for beginner photographers.”
The first big moment
During his career, Yariv took part in large campaigns of major fashion and retail chains in Israel such as Fox, Delta and Ray Ban, while SuperPharm (biggest pharmacy in Israel) started to view him as their main photographer.
The viral video of him and his partner, Guy Kushi, with Bar Refaeli, the international model for Super Pharm's Beauty City, was a big sensation around the world and created for them many new opportunities. The video was created in order to cause interest around them in the field of TV commercials, and the views for the clip certainly contributed to this. Later, they worked together on other large and well-known projects, including fashion photography for many brands and music videos production for a variety of well-known singers in Israel.
“It was a significant exposure for my partner and me and we are very grateful for the opportunity we were given to create something big with a world-class model.”
“Look at me now”, An opportunity to be exposed to the life of the transgender community in Israel
Recently, Yariv has been focusing on personal projects, in which he finds interest and a desire to express himself and his subject of the shooting.
“Stand-alone projects, portraits of people that interest me. My ability to show some kind of wide series rather than a single image. For example, an interesting fashion project I did recently was with a transgender model, I photographed her all over Jerusalem. It was a very challenging fashion project, using an unconventional model who is showing a fashionable side in places we are not used to see. It's just some of the personal projects I promote that are very personal to me and it's important for me to get the message across through photography. “
In recent years, Yariv is accompanying Avia Ashkenazi, a young transgender woman, as part of a documentation project of the transgender community in Israel. He came across an ad for a contest called “Miss Trans” in Israel, the winner of which went to represent Israel abroad. He contacted the Pride Center in Israel and shared with them an idea for a portrait project with the transgender community. They loved the idea and they set off.
“I started photographing the girls, and one of the girls who came, though not to the competition, was Avia Ashkenazi. She immediately interested me, there was an immediate connection between us and I started to document the changes she went through in her private life. From her moving to Israel, to her enlistment in the army, to her conversion into Judaism. She currently lives in Jerusalem. All sorts of steps like that over a period of a few years, and I still keep documenting her and she is considered to be my inspiration for the project.”
From “Look at me”, Talin Abu Hana, by Yariv Fein 
From “Look at me”, Maya, by Yariv Fein 
From “Look at me”, Guy, by Yariv Fein 
From “Look at me”, Daniel, by Yariv Fein 
From “Look at me”,Zohar, by Yariv Fein
“The project has documentation of other transgender models, some of whom were featured in an exhibition, but Avia is the key figure and forms a broad share within the project. “
“The photos below are from the last time I took photos of her, at her residence in Jerusalem and the process of repentance. The project is done like some kind of fashion project that is quite similar to what I do on my commercial side, only with non-commercial characters. I take them a little bit into my world.”
The photos taken by Yariv with the participation of Avia were displayed at the Eretz Israel Museum until recently, as part of the “Local Testimony” exhibition. This is an annual exhibition of journalistic photography and documentary photography that has been on display in Israel since 2003. The exhibition provides a platform for professional documentary photography, as it does not always receive proper exposure in popular media.
The exhibition hosted many photographers who presented their work on a wide range of topics revolving around “fake news” culture and the question of what is real and what is not. The main themes were news, society and community, nature and environment, and Yariv's work was presented under the theme of religion and belief and shows the process Avia has gone through in her transformation. Yariv's work was ranked third in the category to which he belonged.
Another project that Yariv did is a series of portraits of women from the Masai tribe in Africa, as part of an ongoing project of photographing isolated tribes. During a vacation in Zanzibar, he photographed the women of the tribe along with unique clothing and jewelry that are unique for the tribe. Some of the features include a shaved head or colorful and striking jewelries. Taking their photos on a neutral background increases the intensity of these special features. For some of those women this was the first time they met with a camera and with photography.
Collaborations with Japanese artists and thoughts about the future
Yariv visited Japan twice before, and fell in love with the place. What won his heart is the atmosphere, even when walking through the crowded, noisy streets of Tokyo, there is a sense of tranquility when you walk into a temple. Yariv says he especially likes the way the adrenaline and silence of Tokyo blend together. When asked about the future, Japan is also in his mind and he share with us that one of his future goals is to collaborate with Japanese artists.
“Like any artist, my dream is to continue to create, produce and present my personal works and projects all around the world. Of course I have a warm place in my heart for Japan and I would be happy for any collaboration. I'm sure it will happen one day.”
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