Artist: Adi Nes

I am in love with Adi Nes’ photography. Perhaps it is because we have the same taste in men. I am guessing he is also drawn to the muscular build and Jew curls that are depicted in his David and Jonathan.

Adi Nes, is a forty four year old Israeli artist photographer. Raised in a low socioeconomic class his parents, both Sephardic Jews, nurtured his creative side. Upon completing his army service in the Israeli National Defense he enrolled accidentally in a photography program. Heavily influenced by his cultural surrounds in Israel, Nes found his calling in creating mesmerizing photographs that are intensely layered.

The first time I saw a 38’’ by 48’’ photograph of Nes’ in a gallery I could barely tear my eyes away. Nes is an intensely talented artist with a box full of tools that he implements like a true craftsman. Lighting and shadow, key elements of photography and natural lighting, every photographer’s best friend and worst enemy, is a large part of Nes’ genius. His photographs light up, heightening his subject matters mythical and saintly allusions. His models fascinate, surrounded by a dirty glow they are at the same time untouchable yet unmistakably human. The value of his photos intensifies the ying yang effect drawing the eyes between the darkness and the glow.

His staging, a throwback to the foundation of photography as art, when photography was staged in order to accommodate the longer exposure time, is undoubtedly time consuming. Nes clearly invests much by way of time and cost before shooting his first set. Even selection of his models is a testament to his flawless eye for choosing a part that complements the whole. The staging is integral to Nes’ talent of combining space and shape choosing locations for his shoots that give his photos a three dimensional effect. Whether there are objects in the forefront, literal levels using steps or figurative levels, his works create a simultaneous sense of shallow and deep spaces within his stage. In carefully selecting his costumes for his models Nes creates a timeless tale that transpires boundaries. He blurs the line between what is and creates an image that is intensified with the cognitive knowledge that there exists a contrast. He uses homeless people to depict biblical heroes and prisoners to represent success.

Nes’ art is captured in a photograph that takes into account all aspects of visual and design elements within photography; combines them with his own personal stories, the personal stories of his models, tales from biblical, mythological and contemporary times; and creates a masterpiece.