Make Believe

2012-2014

Text by curator : Gili Zaidman, 2012

The pictures follow a journey through time in which Iris Hassid-Segal photographs her daughter and some of her classmates. During this period Hassid becomes acquainted with the girls by means of the camera. The photographic journey follows and is fed by the girls’ changing relations, both with one another and between them and the camera.

The distance of the photography, as well as the closeness it facilitates, provide a dimension through which to experience the questions and the social tension we live in. Hassid-Segal is searching for answers, supposed perceptions, that may be able to testify to the emotions contained within the girls. At the same time this is a commentary on the society we live in, with its increasing emphasis on bodily bumps and the curves.

Looking at the photographs, I feel the tension they arouse. I ask myself  if the girls need our protection. Would cancelling the exhibit really protect them? Adolescence has many layers. It is a period of discoveries and losses. Some are adopted in our hearts and some remain unwanted. The tension between rejection and beauty exists and is expressed in Hassid-Segal’s works.
Gili Zaidman, Curator