Shai kremer photography books

Texts by Moshe Zuckermann and Sylvia Wolf. Infected Landscape by Israeli photographer Shai Kremer is a searing portrait of the military disfiguration of the landscape of Israel. The accumulation of ruins and military remnants is an important part of what defines the Israeli landscape today — wounds in the landscape that correspond to the wounds in the Israeli collective consciousness.

This centre encapsulates the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Over the years it has been rebuilt to represent different war environments and reflect varying scenarios — from Lebanon through to Gaza City. A further area was also constructed to simulate a refugee camp. The newly established Urban Warfare Training Centre unveiled to the press in also features.

From a distance, it looks like any Arab urban centre. Built by the U. Army Corps of Engineers and funded largely through U. Complete with shops, a grand mosque, a hospital and a Kasbah quarter, the UWTC even has a cemetery that doubles as a soccer field, depending on the operational scenario. In some of the houses openings have been created to replicate those that soldiers leave behind as they demolish walls in the process of moving through urban areas whilst avoiding streets and alleys.

For added realism, charred automobiles and burned tyres litter the roadways.

Beautifully haunting images capture poignant juxtapositions of creation and destruction, man-made and natural, timeless and ephemeral.

During training exercises Arabian music is played in the background. The facility is enveloped by cameras and an audio system that simulates helicopters, mortar rounds, and prayer calls. The aim of the company is to bring to the attention of a wider public, accessible but challenging contemporary photography by both established and lesser known practitioners.