THe Tr Av El & locATion Issue
Photojournalist Ed Kashi began keeping journals almost 20
years ago as a way of staying connected with his wife and collaborator,
Julie Winokur, while he was on the road, and she stayed home to raise
their two children and pursue her career as a writer. Kashi’s journals began
on paper, and then took the form of e-mails by 2000. Over the years, he
recorded his private thoughts and observations from all over the world:
Ukraine, the West Bank, Syria, Pakistan, India, China, Iraq, Nigeria, Vietnam
and other places. To Winokur’s dismay, Kashi recently published excerpts
of his journals as a book titled Witness Number Eight: Photojournalisms
(Joy of Giving Something, Inc., distributed by Nazraeli Press). The journal
entries, and Winokur’s impassioned afterword, offer a rare glimpse of a
marriage and partnership (Kashi and Winokur have produced several documentary projects together, including Aging in America and their newest
project, Bring it to the Table) strained by the career demands of photojournalism. These excerpts from the book are re-printed with permission.
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From Ed Kashi’s Journal
5/15/94—Ma’ale Adumim, West Bank
© ED KASHI/VII PHOTO
Today has been a good but confusing day. This morning I photographed a circumcision in a
settlement. I think I got some good pics. Then I went to a settlement next to Jericho and the
new autonomous zone for Palestinians. Things finished up early, so I went into Jericho, saw
my first official Palestinian policeman and soaked up the festive and surreal (especially for
the Arabs) atmosphere of a town without Israeli Security forces.
My personal work here is done for now, and I’ll leave with some confusion. Not having
had enough time to get firmly planted in this project, but having seen enough to believe
there is something interesting and worthwhile to capture.
By the way, tomorrow I have an assignment to photograph Hanan Ashrawi, the PLO
spokesperson, for The [New York] Times Magazine. It will be very interesting, and I’ll be
anxious to talk about the settlements. Except only after I’ve got the pics! So, can you put
up with my lifestyle and work? If so, I need to know. Will you work with me, if I work with
you? Please think about this very crucial issue, ‘cause I want to know … then we can know
how to proceed from here …
Get my drift?
LOVE
© KRIS TIN REIMER 2012
Above: Ed Kashi. Left: Settlers
on contested land in Israel’s
West Bank perform ritual
ablutions in an ancient
spring once used by local
Palestinians. Top, left:
A journal entry by Kashi
opposite a photo of him with
his eldest child. Opposite
page, top: Julie Winokur.
Bottom: A Ukrainian
Orthodox funeral for an
elderly man in the village of
Crisan, in the Danube Delta,
Romania, 2001.
