Premio Combat Prize

My great grand parents left Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe before World War 1. They emigrated to the UK and then to the antipodes, Australia and New Zealand where they have continued their Jewish customs and traditions until today.

My reasons for visiting the places of my ancestors in Eastern Europe was simply to stand in the same places they had stood and experience a similar feeling and emotion, a kind of Deja Vue experience with a person long since passed and to see if that feeling or emotion could be captured using photography.
What I discovered was a post World War 2 wreckage of a once great European Sub-Culture, still unvalued and largely unacknowledged.
My photography has always been autobiographical and I’m descendant of the Jewish priesthood. The 2 hands on a Jewish gravestone symbolizes the person buried is a priest or in my case a blood relative.
Even though I’m not a very religious Jew there are very strict religious laws regarding priests and contact with the dead which I always follow out of respect to those buried.
As I continue my travels throughout Europe it is also possible to Strongly connect the European Shtetl (Village or Town,) with the beachside Jewish Community where I have lived most of my life in Sydney Australia.
The area is Sydney where I have lived most of my life has a large and vibrant Jewish community which is made up mainly of post war migrants from Poland, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and recently a large influx of Russians and South Africans. There are very strong links between the lands of the past and the culture of today.
What is most interesting for me is the juxtaposition of communities like the Jewish community in Australia with the surf culture which is very multi cultural and non discriminating.
As a surfer and swimmer I have a very strong connection to the ocean. This image is surreal to me but not meaningless. It has the appearance of an underwater scene with the hands of the swimmer gasping for air desperately trying to reach the surface.
Since September 2012 I have been based in Europe and living in Vienna. Initially I came to work on an Art Project with Australian performance artist Mike Parr. Since then I have travelled extensively in Poland and produced a book of the Food, Art and Culture of the region of Lunigiana Italy with author Professor Enrico Dolci.
I’m interested in exploring Livorno as another great European Jewish centre.