Barry Frydlender's Pitzutziya

After becoming disillusioned with the shortcomings of his medium, Israeli artist Barry Frydlender gave up on photography in the early nineties. Following a hiatus, he became one of the first to utilize breakthroughs in digital technology. Embracing the inability of conventional photography to convey a true story or a whole reality, Frydlender began to create his own. Pitzutziya, a work from 2002, depicts a small Tel Aviv convenience store, stocked with everything from local seeds and nuts to imported packaged food and liquor. By photographing the scene piece by piece over a period of time and later digitally composing a large seamless whole, Frydlender transforms the everyday into the essential. The myriad products and the two young women appearing in the picture, create an allegorical history of the state of Israel, addressing issues of ethnicity, demographics, and economics.