This portfolio is a selection of images from an ongoing project in which I try to express in photographs the feeling and different aspects of “shalom”- in nature, and in our own lives.  Peace is a decent translation of the Hebrew word “shalom”, but not exact. “Well-being” might render better what shalom often means. 

I find that my practice of photographing nature on my daily walks and in my own backyard brings me shalom.  It’s my form of meditation.  Certain landscapes I’ve taken over the years seem to convey this elusive feeling.  These are the ones I’ve included. However, shalom exists in people too, and so this series includes portraits that convey an inner shalom.  I am exploring what means of photographic expression– use of color, design, the quality of the light at a particular time of day, and the “decisive moment” – I can best use to convey a sense of shalom.

Have you felt something similar, or do you use photography in this manner?  If so, I would like to hear about it.  I would like this series to be a collective work.  Shalom is something we all need right now, in the middle of the novel coronavirus pandemic and the unsettling year of 2020.  I certainly do. So – if you have a favorite photograph that you feel expresses shalom – send it to me.  I’ll include the best here on my website.