INTRO: 

Mea Shearim was established in 1874 as the fifth settlement outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. Its name is derived from a verse in the weekly Torah portion that was read the week the settlement was founded: "Isaac sowed in that land, and in that year he reaped a hundredfold (מאה שערים, Mea Shearim); God had blessed him" (Genesis 26:12). Today, Mea Shearim remains an insular neighborhood in the heart of Jerusalem. With its overwhelmingly Hasidic population, the streets retain the flavor of an Eastern European shtetl. Life revolves around strict adherence to Jewish law, prayer, and the study of Jewish religious texts. For men, traditions in dress code include black frock coats and black hats. Long, black beards cover their faces, and many grow side curls, called payots. Women and girls are urged to wear what is considered modest dress – knee-length or longer skirts, no plunging necklines or midriff tops, no sleeveless blouses or bare shoulders. Some women wear thick black stockings all year long, even in summer, and married women wear a variety of hair coverings, from wigs to head scarves. The residents speak Yiddish in their daily lives, as opposed to the Hebrew language spoken by the majority of Israel’s population. The only use of Hebrew for residents is in prayer and religious study, as they believe that Hebrew is a sacred language to be used only for religious purposes.

ABOUT THE PROJECT: 

I began documenting the area of Mea Shearim in late 2014. In the course of the past 3.5 years, I took more than 15,000 photographs and while compiling this book, I managed to narrow it down to a beautiful 77 of them. This 77, translate the uniqueness of the area and its people. As a Self publisher, It took me more then 6 month to find the best quality to make this book. In that time frame i haven't compromised on any aspects, no detail was small enough. I had to change two designers and a higher number of book designs as an effect of production failures. I also visited a number of printing houses throughout my country, investing enormous financial efforts in order to reach the highest levels of color printing accuracy.

This investment of my personal funds regarding the project was based on the complete belief that the finalize product in one hand would have the highest quality available while the other was to maintaining lowest cost as possible for the product. There were a lot of delaying factors along the way, but I am finally happy to announce that I have managed to achieve the highest quality result for both levels - print and cost and now i'm continuing to move forward.

Project production currently stands in its last alignment as the layout of the book, binding, test prints and so are all over. The print house and the final format for the book is ready. One thing remains the same, and is my own financial capital for producing the book. In order to achieve the best result I mentioned earlier, I need your help believing that together we could make this project successful.

this project would set as the starting point for a trilogy about religion in the city of gods - the city of Jerusalem.

BOOK DETAILS:

Publisher: Self published 
Photographs and Text: Ofir Barak
Language: English
layout and print : Artplus
Hardcover: 164 pages 
Book binding - Sewing
Size: 30 cm high X 21 cm wide
Photographs: 77 Black and white images
Anticipated publication date: July 2017

* All details of book may vary a bit and are not final *

REWARDS:

• As stated in some perks, backers are able to choose photos from this selection-

• A sample of a single contact sheet from the "- ULTIMATE EDITION -" that contains a set of 77 contact sheets (hand marked)-

TIMEFRAME:

Early may 2017 : Start of indiegogo campaign
Early june 2017 : End of indiegogo campaign
Mid june 2017 : Start of the printing, binding and book compiling
Mid july 2017 : Receiving final books and backers rewards 
Late july 2017 : Shipping  rewards to backers

FINAL WORDS:

You can find more about the project at my website , instagram and my facebook.

Please be advise that if you are interested in a perk hit it (if not the money you would contribute would be conceder as a donation).

Some people can't contribute donations, but that doesn't mean everyone can't help. Please consider spreading the word around regarding the "MEA SHARIM - THE STREETS" book campaign. You can use the share buttons located on top. I would like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Lets make it happen.

Music in video: november - Bensound.com