Exclusive Lectures at the 2026 Photography Festival

The festival also ventures beyond the exhibition spaces and comes to us at Lauter. Throughout the festival, we will host five gatherings that will open up new perspectives on the world of photography through music, identity, memory, creativity, and the connection between art and life. An opportunity to meet the people behind the lens, hear the stories behind the works, and enjoy an evening of culture, conversation, and a good glass of beer.

“The Waiting” — A Photographic-Poetic Memoir — with Shiraz Grinbaum

For 14 years, Shiraz Grinbaum photographed her father, the late Michael Grinbaum, who suffered from post-traumatic stress following the Yom Kippur War. What began as an attempt to draw closer to her father became a prolonged journey of observing the relationship between father and daughter, and between personal memory and familial and collective trauma. In the lecture, Grinbaum will speak about photography as an act of love, the distance the camera enables and the closeness it invites, and life alongside a psychological injury that continues to resonate in the next generation. This is a story about the passage of time, about what can be seen and what we will never be able to know, and about the ongoing waiting—for recognition, recovery, and perhaps also the possibility of saying goodbye.

Shiraz Grinbaum is a photographer, book editor, and curator. She is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Madaf: Books That Are Art; CEO of Mavo’ot: The Yoav Bar-El Ideas Foundation; and founder of the “Light Up the Home: Second Generation to Military Post-Traumatic Stress” forum, which worked to promote legislation and raise awareness of the rights of children of post-traumatic parents.

A Journey of Identity and Art — with Tali Ratzker

Seven years ago, I entered my first workshop at PHOTO IS:RAEL. It was called “Personal Project.” I came as a photographer, looking for a way to expand my boundaries: to begin creating, tell my story through the art of photography, and build an entire series rather than just individual photographs. From that moment began a seven-year journey, with rapid and significant artistic growth: two solo exhibitions, a master’s degree in art from Bezalel, participation in international exhibitions—including an exhibition at the Eretz Israel Museum—and awards along the way. In the lecture, I will try to fit this entire journey into an hour and a half. I will show you the works I created during this time and talk about every stage, including both the difficulties and the solutions. For anyone just beginning their journey as an artist, I will share tips for applications and my personal working methods.

Light and Its Shards — with Eti Schwartz

In the lecture, we will talk about light and material in photography, about fragile objects that become a field of light and form, and about the encounter between crystal vessels and René Thom’s catastrophe theory, which deals with the moment when gradual change becomes a sudden turning point.

When Did Photographers Stop Taking Photographs, and How Is It Connected to the Political Situation? — with Dr. Gilad Reich

In recent decades, more and more photographers have chosen to work with existing photographs rather than create new ones. The digital revolution plays a major role in this change, but its local manifestations tell a much more complex story.

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