A short walk east of the Bograshov Beach, on the corner of Frishman and Hayarkon St. you’ll find The Prima Hotel and their small but modern gallery in the south eastern corner of the ground floor. At first glance you are given a pleasant indication of what is to come with a few photos lining the wall to the entrance of the one room gallery. With stark light gray blue walls and the clean lines of the room you are able to focus solely on the photography, and the large window facing the west allows for natural light to glorify the room.

The Tel Aviv 360° exhibit, by Gil Finkelstein, features 20 key icons located within Tel Aviv to honor Tel Aviv’s recent 100 year anniversary. Gil’s style of manipulating the photo gives the appearance that Tel Aviv is a world within itself. Each photo generates an entirely different reaction based upon the location, the one that I remember most clearly being a photo taken within Shuk Hacarmel that I feel captured the feeling of confusion in the middle of chaos. If you’ve ever been in the Shuk you most likely know the feeling.

The exhibit has been up since April 28th and runs until the 1st of June. What looks like may have taken many months to create actually took only two months. These two months, however, “were the most intense days I have ever had” says Gil. Gil was approached by the curator, Guy Olami, two months beforehand and requested that Gil use his style to create a work in honor of Tel Aviv’s anniversary and the upcoming celebrations. As he worked on the project intensely he had no idea of its outcome or if an outcome was even viable until just two weeks before the exhibit was to open. Although the exhibit features only 20 pieces, there are 70 in total. Gil estimates that he took over 100,000 pictures to obtain the final result. All of his artwork is up for sale and ranges between 290 NIS to 4000 NIS.

Gil’s next project has been in the making for the past six months. Using a style known as HDRI, high dynamic range imaging, Gil takes three pictures of the exact same thing in different exposures and layers them over each other to obtain an affect that is essentially the picturesque scene in all its natural glory. Although the colors give the appearance of having been beautifully exaggerated, no color enhancement was done. A new style Gil has incorporated into this project is digital painting where he takes portraits and paints over them digitally. The results are intensely magnificent, I felt the need to explore the faces of each individual more then I ordinarily would have. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done” exclaims Gil, but with a smile on his face.

I’m given the feeling that Gil is passionate about art in ways it is hard for him to explain. As a young artist, at the age of 26, he is currently struggling to make of it what any artist would hope for, as he works out of his home studio. He began his love affair with photography as a young child but has not limited himself to that field by any means; he’s also proud to proclaim that he is a baking pastry and arts graduate. With this experience Gil’s dream is to one day fuse together a gallery and bistro like bed and breakfast somewhere in the beautiful wooded areas of the north. Gil hopes only to further develop this style which he is so passionate about. I encourage you to take a look at what this artist’s unique eye has to offer. To see more of Gils work visit www.Gpinky.com.