All images copyright by the individual photographers

	Image #21 Bruce Bennett This image of a young Jewish boy with a mask around his neck is a perfect representation of Bruce Bennett’s Israel; A Country in Transition. This image depicts a young man in classic Hasidic Jewish garb. This youthful face with his long hair and face framed by a perfectly round classic hat embodies the spirituality and joy of Jewish mysticism. The holiday PURIM celebrates how the evil Haman who was the minister to the King was thwarted in killing all of the Jews in the country by efforts by the Jewish Queen Esther, who convinced the king instead of killing the Jews to kill Haman instead.  It is a holiday where kids dress up in costumes, oftentimes the king, Esther or Haman. There are dozens of versions of Hasidism and they share underlying philosophies, practices, and dress, as witnessed in this photograph.  The print of this image is exceptional. The choice of the square format and shallow depth of field clearly mark the young man with his mask as the single and only important part of the image. The facts that his eyes are so clearly captured while the masks eyes are black and vacant and that the clearly indicate a torch passed on; a transition completed.
	Image #45 Bruce Bennett This photograph is displayed both as a poster sized copy behind the desk in the Gallery and as a giclee print framed behind glass. While the giclee print is exquisite, the extra large poster is excellent as well. At first glance you might think this is a portrait of Albert Einstein, but closer observation will convince you otherwise. Einstein never wore an earring and his hair, while long and white, was never this orderly. Again Bruce Bennett used a classic square format with a shallow depth of field. The subject is depicted in sharp and clear detail. The dynamic range of light acquired is exceptional and every weathered detail of this man’s face is captured. We are left to ponder what he is studying so carefully, or is it just a formal pose. We will never know, but the beautiful image and perfect print leave us wondering what story this man has to tell.
	Image #9 Bruce Bennett Bruce describes himself as a "documentary fine art photographer" in his biography. It is more difficult to create images that are strong in both classes. Bruce does an excellent job in achieving this in his art. His set of small intimate color portraits of people from Israel gives you insight into the diversity of its residents. His larger black and white images are equally strong; I was drawn to these small square photographs of the building blocks of Israel... the people This image of a young girl captures you attention immediately. Her eyes are magnetic, her expression unclear, in a way similar to the Mona Lisa, smile...what does it mean?? Words in images often distract the viewer, but the word gold on her sweat shirt adds to the mysteries. Bruce has beautifully captured this young girl, documenting reality in a fine art image. He fully accomplishes in this and the other images in the show.
	Image #12 Bruce Bennett The camel and camel-driver image also gives the viewer a wonderful opportunity to be up close and personal with two wonderful portraits. It has been said the pet owners sometime resemble their pets (or visa versa ). The man and the camel are a humerous example of this saying. Photography can make you think, cry, wonder or smile. This image hits several of these, after smiling making you think about Israel not only as a modern vibrant country but having components today that existed many years ago.