Ayelet Tsabari's photographs

Hello,

Long time no see (well, a few days but that's eons in Open-Book time). I'm reading a really great book of short stories called Lemons by Kasia Jaronczyk and you should all run out and get it. The stories are beautiful, heartbreaking, the writing is original and there's a story called Epidemic (Director's Cut) that will cut you right to the bone once you get to the ... Deleted Scenes part. I've never read anything like it before.

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Today's writer who is also an artist is Ayelet Tsabari whose book The Best Place on Earth, won the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, was a New York Times' Editors choice and has been published internationally. She takes beautiful photographs.

How do you feel about your art work?

It's a nice break from words. I welcome the quietness of it (writing involves so much brain chatter). I find going for a walk with my camera very calming. I love how dynamic it is, and how physical, as opposed to writing, which is so sedentary. But photography also inspires my writing. When you take photos, you observe, you witness, which is something writers naturally do. You hunt for details and perfect moments, for the unusual and strange and unseen. I tend to write with an emphasis on imagery and have been told before that my writing is very visual, which is probably because when I write I see it all with a photographer's eye. Photography is also sometimes a way to accompany my words. After I finished The Best Place on Earth, I literally followed in the footsteps of my characters and took photos of places from my book and created a Tumblr where I presented them alongside excerpts from the stories. 

How does your creative nature has manifested in your life?

I’ve always done a million artsy things: drawing little dirty comics, acting and singing and dancing. I had phases in my life when one art form overshadowed the others, periods when I seriously considered becoming a belly dancer or an actor. But nothing was ever as constant or as nagging as writing. Photography is the only thing that came close. When I moved to Canada at 25, I wasn't writing (for years!) because I couldn't fathom writing in English, my second language, so I enrolled in a Media Program in college where I studied film and photography. It was my way to tell stories without words. I made a couple of films as a student, which I enjoyed, and for a few years I went everywhere with my camera, incessantly documenting. When I finally started writing, photography was also a way to make some money alongside waitressing to support my writing. I have considered before turning it into a career. But once, when a friend commented that my photos moved her so much more than my writing and asked me if I ever considered just focusing on that, since it seemed to come more easily to me, I was devastated. She was right about it being easier and I love it profoundly, and still, it isn’t propelled by the same desperate, crazy need that writing is.I rarely bring my camera places anymore. But that’s not because I’m writing more (although I do) but because one day I had to start lugging around a stroller and a car seat and a diaper bag and a baby and something had to give. I still on occasion use my camera to do head shots for people because I love it (and that’s also secretly writerly: you get to watch people very closely while hiding behind your huge lens) but mostly I snap photos on my iPhone and share it on Instagram. I know it’s only iPhone camera and only Instagram, but I am really into it. It gives me joy to share my art in a small way.