Interview: Ifat Zohar
Ifat Zohar (b. 1970) is a well-traveled, hands on photographer from Israel, with a talent to translate the images in her head into beautiful, dramatic photos, with a good eye for original composition. Ifat tries, and succeeds, in capturing the feeling of the moment into her work. And gives her work a theatrical feel with outstanding images ranging from everyday equestrian scenes, to more daring approaches to the subject matter. This is what makes her work unique!
At what age did you become interested in art?
I have been interested in art all my life, fascinated mostly with colours, graphics and old school painters. I lived in Paris for a year, doing nothing but visiting artists houses, locations and many exhibitions at the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée Picasso, that was just near my house.
Are you a self-taught artist or did you follow a professional art education?
As much as I love art, I am what you would call “a lazy artist.” I never had the patience or focus to become a real painter as I could never sit in an art class and learn. I hated practicing techniques. Although I did try several times and took painting classes at art school in Israel. I wanted to paint and try and not just repeating the basics. I started watching art tutorials on you tube, taking many different workshops and experimented while learning. That way I could concentrate on what the things that interested me and were relevant and necessary to me for my art. In the end, I found myself taking photographs instead of painting pictures as it gave me faster and more meaningful results. A quicker way to express myself as an artist!
What makes the horse such an interesting and inspiring subject?
I got into photography and equine art nine years ago when I came to live in the Netherlands with my boyfriend, who later became my husband. He was a young horse trainer and worked at a stable in a small village. I was at home all day, not knowing the Dutch language, no job or friends and far from any city center. All I had was groups of young horses in the fields around my house for company. Seeing we didn’t have TV or internet at home, I went out every day watching the young horses play and the mares interact with their new foals.
I then realized that I was learning by watching and studying their behavior, their silent language and became acutely aware of their movements and communication. Once I knew that this is what I wanted to do, I invested in a better camera then I had been using and bought bigger lenses.
How did you develop your work?
I started developing my skills by taking workshops to improve my knowledge in capturing the right proportions of the horse and getting to understand the movements. Photographing horses in the field is very different from horses being ridden in the arena or handled by people because then it becomes also about the interaction between human and horse. I wanted to show something different than the usual equine photography you see. I wanted to express feelings, emotions, elegance, and friendship. I felt that photos are not enough for me to do that and I searched for an “extra dimension” to add.
I started to combine photography with graphics backgrounds and play with it on my computer. That way I could add colours to my photography, create and add a new dimension to my regular photos and make the viewer concentrate on the horse better. This technique lead me to my “Fighters or Lovers” series of the Camargue horses.
“I’m not sure if I can describe my art. But I always try to catch a certain moment and emphasize it with dramatic backgrounds, colours and lights, creating what I think is photo-art.”
I’m always looking for unique ways to capture the beauty of the horse, for myself but also for my clients. To me, studio photo shoots often look the same every time. I tried to create a new artistic style that will make the rider-horse picture more unique and memorable. Combining equine photos with new concepts and give them new life.
Who do you see as an inspirator for your work?
I always loved the works of Henri Matisse and Henri de Toulouse Lautrec. I also take my inspiration from other photographers, like Dutch photographer Gemmy Woud-Binnendijk, who taught me how to create and develop my studio concepts and how to combine it with painted art.
But also photographers like American photographer Annie Lebovitz and German photographer Wiebke Haas have influenced my work as well, with their own particular way of capturing both humans and horses.
JTH
CONTACT INFO
Ifat Zohar (website)
Facebook & Instagram
Phone: +31(0)6–13338331
Email: zifat70@gmail.com
All images are used courtesy of Ifat Zohar.
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