Israel Zafrir

Israel Zafrir (June 8, 1911 – December 3, 2016) was an Israeli photographer. Zafrir is considered one of the founding fathers of modern documentary photography in Israel.
Biography.
Zafrir was born in Vienna. He and his wife Georgette were residents of Bat Yam. They divorced very late in life (both were in their 80s).
Photography career.
From the 1950s, Zafrir documented works of art for artists and museums in Israel. These photographs were published in catalogs and books on art history, such as "Art in Israel" (1965) by art critic Ran Shechori. Zafrir photographed the works of many prominent artists including members of the New Horizons ("Ofakim Hadashim") group, Yosef Zaritsky, Yitzhak Danziger and Yechiel Shemi. In the 1960s, Zafrir held a number of exhibits featuring his photographs of monuments and statues. In May 1960 he exhibited at Yad Lebanim in Petach Tikva, and in September 1966, at the Youth Center of the Workers Association in Ramla.
Archive.
Zafrir donated his entire photography collection to the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. The Israel Zafrir Photographer Archive is housed at the museum's Information Center for Israeli Art. It contains some 20,000 negatives, positives and slides documenting the work of many of the leading Israeli artists of the mid- and late-twentieth century. Most of the collection consists of black and white photographs, although some are in color. The Information Center is in the process of digitizing and cataloging the collection to make the images more accessible. This work is produced as a joint project of the Judaica Division of the Harvard Library and the Israel Museum.