As I write this it is 5:30 in the morning in Tel Aviv, Israel Thursday morning. The Chasing Portraits team has been really busy the last few days and while I usually like to post at night, last night I just didn’t have time. Today I share some photos from the trip and a little bit of write up. We have another very busy day ahead of us including interviews, coffee appointments, and relocating from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The trip is going very well and I am quite excited about all the footage we are shooting.
First up yesterday was an interview with Yehudit Shendar. Yehduit was the curator from Yad Vashem who in the early 2000s came to visit my family and asked us to donate a Moshe Rynecki painting to the museum. The painting is on display in the museum’s “Between Walls and Fences,” gallery. I haven’t seen the painting since it left California. I am very much looking forward to seeing it and the exhibit today.
We visited Old Jaffa yesterday for our interview with Yehudit and afterwards enjoyed this amazing spread of a lunch. The restaurant, “The Old Man and the Sea,” brings pita, hummous, and 22 different salads to the table along with lemonade. Then you order a main course. We needs more food?! We shared a piece of dennis (I think that’s its name) fish. It was tender and delicious.
Tuesday we walked through the streets of Tel Aviv. One of my favorite parts was our visit to Carmel Market. The sites, smells, and humanity are just incredible. We filmed some very colorful footage in the market. You can buy just about anything in the market – hats, shirts, perfume, flowers, fresh fruit, candy, spices, fresh squeezed orange juice… I hope some of it ends up in the film!
We also enjoyed discovering some street art and taking a team selfie!
In the afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting two other people whom I have connected with in various ways over the years. One is a man who is searching for his great-uncle’s lost paintings. He has been fortunate enough to discover many of them in museums, galleries, and private collections. We shared stories of our searches for family art and the importance of continuing our respective quests.
And then in the early evening I had tea with a woman whom I met many years ago because of a family tree I found online. This woman wrote a book about a family from Siedlce which contains Rynecki family in its genealogy. My great-grandfather was from Siedlce. The question is if and how the two families are connected. We still haven’t quite figured this out. Someday!
Today on our agenda are several interviews and a visit to Yad Vashem. It will be a very busy day, but it is one that I am very much looking forward to filming!
Thank you for following along!