Yinon Gal-On awarded by the Israeli Ministry of Education

ISRAEL

Sixteen-year-old photographer Yinon Gal-On has taken underwater pictures of more than 30 celebrities as part of a very important campaign - Lashon HaRa Lo Medaber Elay (= Shaming shames me). The talented young artist has  photographed them all in order to raise awareness of how our world affects us and others.

 

The exhibition was open at the Ayalon Mall, Ramat Gan in Israel. The Ministry of Education has awarded Yinon for the work that he has done for the community, and for the effort in reuniting important contemporary characters in an emotional and artistic movement against online violence and shaming.

 

Gal-On started taking pictures at the age of 7 and discovered the magic of underwater photography and the way people connect to emotion. For him, the association between water, emotions, and photography was immediate and it is there that he found the best way to express himself, whether he took a self-portrait to express an emotional state or captured the feelings of other people. 

 

His photographs are an invitation to silence. They capture moments of holding your breath and focusing on the emotional and personal. Underwater photography allows you to disconnect from the sounds of everyday life and connect to the quiet and emotion, a connection that brings out people's softer and more vulnerable side. The aspiration here is for a complete rather than a perfect image. The main part of the process is the intimate conversation with the subject in the aim of reaching a sense of acceptance and liberation. Every story holds an entire world and from there it evolves and develops. Gal-On's artistic journey reflects the transformative abilities of art as a powerful tool for self-realization.

 

Since he started to take photographs underwater, Yinon has photographed hundreds of people. He photographs in the pool in the yard of the family home in Tel Aviv, in the spring and summer months, about five sets a week, which often end in tears. Among his photographers are celebs such as the models Ross-Lena Rudina, Titi Ainao and Xenia Tarantul, and the famous poet Ronny Someck. 

March 24, 2021