Welcome to Uncle Itzik's gallery!
 Self-portrait with his IXUS mini-camera |
My Uncle Itzik has taken many interesting photographs over the years. The problem is that most of them are in boxes and cupboards in his house, rather than somewhere where others can enjoy them. This is the reason that I decided to make him a homepage.
Our family has always had an artisitic streak. Great grandfather, Hayim Moshe, had a talent for making intricate paper cuts and was a violin virtuoso. His sisters Leiah and Hasha were excellent writers, especially when it came to poetry. Leiah's daughter Sima Yidis, was and is a wonderful singer, who though over 90 years old can still hit the highest of notes. However Uncle Itzik is the first photographer in the family and also the first to have any formal art training.
It's unlikely that you'll have seen his work anywhere though because most of it lives on the walls and in the closets of his house. Rather than pursue a career as a painter he worked in the family dress business as a designer.
 Central Jerusalem |
Itzik studied at the Chelsea School of Art in London during the 1960s. While doing all the run of the mill art courses, life drawing, basic techniques, etc, he chose to focus on modernist and surreal paintings of both the real world and fantasy creatures which were the fruit of his imagination. He had some interesting characters, alien creatures, imaginary trees and curious creatures of all sorts.
He was not very interested in photography as a student, preferring paint, ink and pencils to film. About a decade ago though he was given a polaroid camera and thus began an interest in photography. Over the years he has graduated to other cameras, my favourite being a tiny IXUS which is small enough to fit into a shirt pocket, yet which includes a small zoom and various other useful features. He has now added boxes of photos to his cupboard loads of paintings and drawings.
Uncle Itzik has always been drawn to odd angles, interesting patterns, shapes and abstract designs. Where other people might just see say an electricity pylon, he sees a network of shapes, numerous triangles, symmetric lines and harsh angles all coming together to form geometric patterns which have an
 Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee |
Itzik enjoys photographing a variety of images, from fly on the wall shots of a busy city to abstract pictures. He has always been interested in architecture and the building trade, often focusing on odd buildings or construction sites. While most interested in urban scenes, he has become increasingly fascinated by patterns and designs in nature and this has led him to photograph the natural world as well.
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Copyright 2000 by Yitzhak Katz. Photographs on this page by Yitzhak Katz. Last updated 20 November 2000.
