Digital Faces of Jerusalem

Five years after our first publication in Dutch, it was high time to come up with a book in English. An e-book in this case. So, why another book about Jerusalem and its beautiful faces? Well, the main reason, as so often these days, is Covid. One of the many dreadful side effects of the virus was that we, and millions of others, could not visit the Holy City. A yearly visit to Jerusalem for us was like a shot of energy, inspiration, and memories that kept us going for another year. Waiting next year in Jerusalem. Like many others, we are still waiting. A visit was impossible throughout 2020 but seemed possible in 2021. As we all know the virus still shows its ugly face and so 2021 will yet again be a Jerusalem-less year.

With this ebook, we dive back into the magical energy and passions of the Old City, with the Kotel or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Back to the smells, colors and crowds of our beloved shuk Mahane Yehuda. All elements of constants longing.

When will things return to normal? What will that normal look like? Nobody knows, but we do know what Jerusalem looked like up until the end of 2019. “Faces of Jerusalem” shows the fascinating diversity of the Holy City in all its pre-corona glory. All are presented in a matter-of-fact style, both in image as in word. Showing the pure Jerusalem.

 

Note for the ones who bought our first book “Gezichten van Jeruzalem”. This new e-version contains not just many of the pictures of the 2015 publication, but many, many more, and also more recent. The texts are also updated and are far more extended than in 2015. In other words: Much more to see and more to read.

You can purchase our ebook directly on
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/faces-of-jerusalem
and BOL: https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/p/faces-of-jerusalem/9300000019322651/

 

OUR FIRST BOOK

With our first book “Gezichten van Jeruzalem” we show the Holy City and the people living there. To put it more bluntly: With did not want yet another book about Jerusalem full of ‘neutron bomb’ photography: empty streets with beautiful buildings, but without their soul; the people. According to the many positive reactions we succeeded in our objectives. Through street scenes, we take the reading viewer through Jerusalem from one iconic place (Western Wall, Temple Mount, Mahane Yehuda Market, Holy Sepulchre) to another (Mea She’arim, Via Dolorosa, Tomb of the Virgin Mary, Wilson’s Arch).

An ideal present for the returning or future visitor of Israel’s capital.

The book is now in its second edition. You can see a few sections of it below. For those who are confused by the words used: that’s the Dutch language. Click on the cover below:

 

And now we are working on our second book, in English: the inspiring, dynamic, and vibrant market of Mahane Yehuda and the surrounding neighborhoods in Jerusalem. You can see and read about this project much more on this site. In fact, it’s getting more and more.

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ORDERING OUR FIRST BOOK

ISBN 9789082412000,

110 pages full color,

hardcover,

beautiful paper and

almost 200 photos.

all descriptions are in Dutch.

The price is € 29.95. This includes shipping costs inside the tiny Kingdom of the Netherlands. You can order the book through our contact form or by sending us an email info@kroon-en-vanmaanen.nl. After receiving the money we send you the book immediately, in a robust cardboard box.

You can also order through the website of BOL.com. Instructions here are a bit useless as you just have to follow the crystal clear BOL-instructions: Ordering our book at BOL.com

 

HELLO KITTY

In May 2018 a special photo exhibition opened at the First Station in Jerusalem. It was an event to celebrate the 70^th birthday of the state of Israel: 70 pictures by 70 photographers. One of them was Anat with her picture of an orthodox Jew in his black suit with a charming pink “Hello Kitty” shoulder bag. Her picture was selected out of some 4.000 photos from all over the world. In the end, she was the only European to get selected. On Israeli television they described her picture wonderfully in one word: “Hilarious”.

Asked why Anat choose this picture, she stated that she wanted to show the contrasts between religion and commerce, with the Western Wall as the iconic background. With this explanation, she showed perfectly what we do and what we stand for.

The Speaker of the Knesset and the Mayor of Jerusalem opened the exhibition in front of hundreds of people. Until August ‘Kitty’ and her 69 friends stayed at the monumental station, which dates back to the Ottoman Empire. Due to its success, the collection then stayed a couple of months at the Moshe Castel Museum of Art. A modern museum located in Ma’ale Adumim, which can also be pronounced as a few minutes from Jerusalem.

THE MUSLIM MAYOR AND THE RABBI

This is not the only museum where our work can be seen. Another example is the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam. Erwin’s picture was taken at a public Chanukah celebration and showed the Moroccan mayor of Rotterdam together with a rabbi, lighting a candle on the Chanukah.

The professional jury loved this combination of a Muslim and a Jew helping each other. Not quite a daily sight, to say the least. Together with this price winning capture, two other photos made it to the permanent collection of the museum. The exhibition showed 21st-century Jewish life in the Netherlands as alive and kicking.

OUR EXHIBITION

We also had our own exhibition in Rotterdam, showing a collection of photographs from our book “Gezichten van Jeruzalem”. During three months visitors could see our version of Jerusalem, printed on precious dibond (aluminum-like).

As someone working at the venue said: “Some said that by staring at the pictures it felt that they were inside the picture. They really sensed the atmosphere”. Once again that was and still is our intention: pictures that will absorb you. Not by using an overdose of artistic or pretentious distractions, but showing the beauty of reality.