Lea Golda Holterman:Artist Statement

Gallery 1839 hosts Israeli photographer exhibition.
 
Successful Israeli photographer and journalist Lea Golda Holterman brought her challenging and controversial series of images 'Exile: an image of women, women as an image' to London’s Assembly Rooms on 26th November. Gallery 1839 hosted the exclusive solo exhibition which profiles some of the women who make up Tel Aviv’s prostitute community.

Golda Holterman, who lives and works in Israel, sees the women not as prostitutes, but as a mirror of a society that allows prostitution to be assimilated into the mainstream. “I wanted to raise awareness about this subject,” she says, “but also to make people think about it at a deeper level: prostitution is about more than sex. Everything can be traded and the weaker party is always exploited in every exchange. I believe society allows prostitution to become mainstream to avoid facing up to the problem.”

Prior to carrying out the project, Golda Holterman had no idea the situation existed in Israel. “I found myself looking at these women as living myths, like holocaust images,” she explains. “I couldn’t understand how nothing had been done. Some of the woman are literally dying. I wanted to uncover their humanity through the images.”

She describes the outcome of the project as “discovering the genetics of prostitution”. It is, she says, a concept which relies on exploiting others’ weaknesses and, as such, can be found in every type of relationship. It is a type of a trade, yet a conflict of interests. Prostitution illustrates the fact that it is possible to exploit others for one’s own enjoyment.

Using a technique which combines myths and art history to challenge the viewer, Golda Holterman hopes her images will make people look at the topic afresh and allow themselves to feel raw emotion. “The combination of myth and reality makes people rethink,” she explains, “people can relate to things they know. They know prostitution and they know biblical images. I combined the two to produce a new view on reality.

”“Holy Hour” references the well-known painting which features a man enjoying the physicality of his body and nature. In her image, Golda Holteman altered this myth to capture the strip-tease moment of temptation. “For these women,” she explains, “this is their holy hour and the peak of their emotion as prostitutes.”

The image “Venus” references Boticelli and draws on the curious combination of shame and temptation shown in the painting. In Golda Holterman’s version, the subject knows she is naked, and is hiding. “Venus is  seen as an icon of beauty for women,” Golda Holterman says, “which tells us that women should be naked and a sexual object, yet shy and tempting. Jenet’s shame comes from a different place in her soul. She is making the same gesture as Boticelli’s Venus but the meaning is so different because of the concept.”

“Adam and Eve” uses many of the methods used in fashion photography to make a cynical comment on the sexy nature of fashion imagery.  “We communicate using this styled sexuality,” says Golda Holterman, “but it destroys intimacy. The women in my series know all the tricks to make them look desirable, but they are not genuine gestures. I referenced the fashion industry to say that, maybe, we should start photographing fashion differently, to show reality in an intimate way rather than manipulating the people we are photographing to create false desires. In this series, I tried to break social myths by using aspects of fashion photography, put into the context of art history. “Ilana”, for instance, references images of Kate Moss who, for years, was the fashion industry’s own icon of beauty. I wanted to show the origin and reality of this look. These women are starving to meet this image of desirability.”

Importantly, the images are shot at eye-level, giving the women back some power. In this way, the viewer has access to the women’s personality rather than viewing her body as an object.

The image “Pieta”, of five-month-old Miriam, is a very strong image in the context of the exhibition. The baby girl is smiling innocently, lying openly whilst remaining completely unaware of her body. Golda Holterman points out that “the same gesture from Miriam in her future will be viewed totally differently.” The use of the mirror, and dressing table as an altar, reinforce the fact that she will become a woman. “There is no-one there to hold her,” says Golda Holterman, “what holds her is the cultural state she is born into. The blame is put firmly on society’s mainstream views. This situation is a disaster, and nothing but disaster will come out of it. Even if Miriam doesn’t become a prostitute, the communication of her body will always be about appearance and sexuality.”

The artist’s position, Golda Holterman feels, is somewhere between reality and myth. Their role, meanwhile, is to challenge viewers’ inner idealistic beliefs. At The Assembly Rooms, as fascinated crowds were drawn to the images in 'Exile: an image of women, women as an image', there was definite evidence of people’s viewpoints being altered. Feedback included “challenging” and “intriguing”. As Golda Holterman says, “they understood the game” - they knew exactly what the artist was trying to achieve through the project.