Israel from the Air

...the background of green hills and cloudy skies, is softer and more vague (p...

...Therefore, it is not surprising that, ever in search of a new angle, someone thought, of adding another dimension to the pictorial repertoire by photographing old familiar scenes from the air...

...During World War I, the Germans and the British used airplanes to take the first aerial photographs of Palestine, and individual views from the air have been included in many publications since...

...In the foreground the Jaffa Gate, one of eight gates used today, stands at the road that leads to Jaffa...

...still further back can be seen the Dome of the Rock...

...Nowitz's book, on the other hand, offers no information about him, which, of course, does not diminish the quality of his photographs...

...The pictures in both books cover the same territory, and are similarly divided into geographic or climatic zones...

...Joshua 10:12-14) Jerusalem, The Old City The Old City of Jerusalem made golden by the sunlight...

...His captions are packed with information about the sites, and with learned quotations from the Bible and other sources...

...Behind, across Kidron Valley, is the Mount of Olives...

...Wolman's photograph, taken perhaps an hour later on a winter afternoon, is bathed in dark tones created by shadows blending in with cypresses and pine trees...

...Early photographers, anticipating the eagerness with which the public would purchase pictures of the Holy Land, arrived there within a few months after the process of photography was made available to the public, and the first book of photographs ever published, Excursions Daguerriennes: Vues et monuments les plus remarquables du globe (Rittner et Goupil, 1842), contains scenes of Jerusalem, Nazareth and Acre...

...Wolman uses shadows dramatically...

...It is said that Arthur Koestler once remarked that wishing to meet the author because one enjoyed his books is as unwise as wanting to meet the goose because one likes pate de foie gras...

...In his extensive introduction, he deals with the effects of history, geography and climate on the land we see in the photographs...

...Both books contain fine examples of broad overviews of sites and, on an opposite page, close-ups—the photographer zooming in on details...

...Middle left is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, site of Jesus' burial...

...Who are the people who brought us these two volumes...

...3' To order these books, see p. 13...

...Amos Elon, who wrote the text for The Holy Land from the Air, is a well-known Israeli journalist, author of many books...

...Citadels, enclosed compounds and walled cities are most intriguing from the air...

...Add to this a sprinkling of places filled with history, places whose very names evoke biblical images, and you can't go wrong...

...When photographing the Capernaum synagogue, Wolman again shows clearer details, while Nowitz presents a nice setting with the Sea of Galilee...

...143 pages, 104 photographs, S39.95...

...The Elon-Nowitz volume has one large map of the country and another detailed one of Jerusalem...

...A menorah in relief and an Aramaic inscription make the identification certain...

...Some views have been recorded so often as to become trite...

...Like the aerial spies of World War I, the contemporary fliers reveal secret views— courtyards of monasteries, hidden gardens...

...The practice of taking pictures from the air is almost as old as photography itself—a Frenchman did it from a balloon in 1858...

...his language is not as elegant as Elon's...

...For lovers of archaeology, both books offer a most satisfying selection of ruins...

...Jerusalem, it has often been said, is more thickly populated with the dead than with the living," writes Elon...

...Yet most of us are curious to know something about the people whose work we admire...

...Only the foundation remains of the castle, which is now open to the public...

...Wolman introduces each chapter • The Holy Landfrom the Air, text by Amos Elon, photographs by Richard Nowitz (Harry N. Abrams, New York, in association with the Domino Press, Jerusalem...

...Within 8,000 square miles (an area the size of New Jersey), varied dramatic landscapes abound: golden beaches and azure blue seas, rolling hills and craggy canyons, desert vistas and lush green farms...

...Nowitz's panoramic views have the advantage since the photos are spread across two pages...

...The shuk (Arab market) begins at the Jaffa Gate and zigzags through the residential areas to the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock...

...Wolman is less familiar with the country...

...Wolman, the Dome of the Rock...

...According to the Bible, Joshua ordered the moon to stand still here and the sun at Gxbeon: "Stand still, 0 sun, at Gibeon, 0 moon, in the Valley of Ayalon...

...144 pages, nearly 150 photographs, S35...

...Elon and Nowitz emphasize spectacular scenery, while Wolman combines landscapes with less "beautiful" depictions of urban life, such as the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv, a soccer field in Jaffa, a marketplace in Ashkelon (see cover...

...Yet I liked what I learned from his straightforward preface...

...Sometimes the technique is overused, as in his Bethlehem or Hebron photos...

...what is surprising is the arrival of two such volumes, with almost identical titles, at the same time: The Holy Land from the Air, text by Amos Elon, photographs by Richard Nowitz,* and The Holy Land: Israel from the Air, text and photographs by Baron Wolman.** The Elon-Nowitz volume and the Wolman volume have much in common: stunning photography, high-quality printing, handsome design...

...In Nowitz's sweeping view of the Temple Mount, taken in late afternoon, perhaps on a summer day, the sun hits the pavement stones of the platform on which the Dome of the Rock stands and the plaza in front of the Western Wall, and both the Dome and the Wall spring out of the page...

...Neither before nor since has there ever been such a day, when the Lord acted on words spoken by a man...

...the dwindling light merely caresses the Dome and the Western Wall...

...The Elon-Nowitz book contains none of these details, although »the publishers "acknowledge the contribution of Delta, distributors of Kodak in Israel...

...They also convey the vast emptiness of the Negev and its stark beauty, follow the contours of the hills ofJudea, and depict Arab villages with minarets pointing toward the skies...

...Differences in color between photographs of the same subject taken from approximately the same viewpoint are due to a combination of factors: the film used, the time of day, the season of the year, developing and printing...

...Both Elon and Wolman comment on the smallness of the country, how on a clear day, from the air, you can see all of Israel "from Dan to Be'er Sheva...

...Both of these volumes would be a fine addition to any library, to be enjoyed whether or not one is familiar with the country...

...with a simplified, almost abstract map...

...Since Wolman's book contains almost one-third more plates, his reproductions are obviously smaller...

...The impact of the numerous cemeteries on Jerusalem's landscape is clear when seen from above...

...And the sun stood still And the moon halted, While a nation wreaked judgment on its foes...

...He tells us which camera and lenses he used, and explains that he shot the entire book with Fujichrome because there is no Kodachrome processing in Israel and he had to develop all his film and submit it to the censor before taking them out of the country...

...Since both photographers are very able, it is to be expected that the rich hues of Jerusalem's walls and the texture of her domes and red tiled roofs are handsomely presented...

...Even the uninitiated will better understand the archaeological ruins by seeing the outline of a fortress, synagogue, or basilica from the air...

...Yet in the photographs the land stretches on and on...

...The two are identical in size— both in their number of pages and in outer dimensions...

...Baron Wolman, a photographer who lives in San Francisco, writes about himself and his work in the introduction to The Holy Land: Israel from the Air and explains what motivated him to come and photograph in Israel...

...The Citadel was located at the northern end of the palace of King Herod...

...To the right, within the so-called Citadel of David (it is not really Davidic), are the remains of Hero-dian towers that the Roman emperor Titus, when he razed Jerusalem in 70 C.E., left standing as monuments to the valor of his troops...

...Each photographer shot a famous dome in a most original way, creating a new image out of what has become a photographic cliche...

...Both photographers have captured the fortress of Belvoir: Wolman's is a harsher view taken directly from above, with architectural details such as doorways and arches seen with great clarity...

...The Holy Land: Israel from the Air, text and photographs by Baron "Wolman (Chronicle Books, San Francisco...

...Books with photographs of the Holy Land have been appearing on the market at irregular intervals ever since...

...Anyone who has visited Jerusalem with a camera has taken a picture of the Old City from the top of the Mount of Olives—from Frederick Goupil-Fesquet in December 1839, equipped with a "daguerrotype apparatus," to the garden-variety tourist toting the latest auto-focus Nikon...

...Nowitz photographed the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum...

...Elon knows the country well...

...His glowing Masada, seen against a dark background, seems to be floating in air...

...Among the stones used to construct the castle are several taken from an ancient synagogue...

...Both books, especially the Elon-Nowitz volume, present luscious bird's-eye views of treetops and fields of flowers...

...Nowitz's picture of the fort, against Kibbutz Field A kibbutz tractor plows an expansive field in the Ayalon Valley, located in the Judean foothills between the coastal plain and the Judean Hills...

...What is new is the idea of a book that contains nothing but aerial photographs, and Belvoir Castle The site of Belvoir castle, situated 1,640 feet above the Jordan rift valley, was chosen by the Crusaders in 1168 to defend the eastern approaches to the central highlands...

...He writes that he flew a Cessna and took 5,000 pictures of which he selected about 150...