This week was Jerusalem Day, celebrating the city’s 1967 reunification and eliciting, as always, controversy. This is nothing new – Jerusalem has long been accused of being at once both sacred and profane.
Photographer Orna Naor, who grew up in Jerusalem, is familiar with this city of contrasts. Despite having moved to Israel’s center region three decades ago, in her heart, she says, she is still a Jerusalemite. Wandering with her camera through the various neighborhoods, she finds small, personal vignettes that are part of a larger story.
Women of fashion and women of the cloth…
Sacred spaces in common areas…
Generations of Old City residents watching the procession go by…
Elders passing traditions on to sons and grandsons…
Like the Orthodox Christian ceremony of the Holy Fire at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher…
While outside the Church, a different kind of fire can take hold…
Who said only Tel Avivians live in a bubble?
Several of Naor’s photos have been submitted to the World Street Photography competition; readers are invited to visit her page and vote for their favorites. More fascinating images can be seen on her Facebook page — and check out her photo essay about the Yom Kippur Kapparot ritual.
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