Cyclist uses camera to show bright side of kite-charred south
Benny Deutsch, a photographer and nature enthusiast, embarks on project to ‘create something beautiful’ out of the scorched landscape caused by incendiary kites, and to show that ‘people can still come and visit.’
With hundreds of acres of land scorched by the incendiary kites sent over to Israeli communities from the Gaza Strip, and while the government and the defense establishment scramble to find a solution to the menacing phenomenon, one photographer and nature enthusiast has used his bike and a camera to spread the message that the beauty is still there.
“We can show with the pictures that nothing is over and there are still places to go,” said Benny Deutsch, who recorded his bike rides in the area using a camera attached to his helmet to show that despite the charred landscape left behind by the raging flames, its scenic views have not been diminished.
“I went out with Almog Alfuma, who is one of Israel’s champion cyclists, for a bike ride in the area of Kibbutz Be’eri, which has been hard hit by the fires,” he said in an interview with Ynet.
“The thinking behind the project was that despite the fires on the known cycling trail in the area, rather than leave, now is the time to go and ride there,” Deutsch explained. “I wrote about it on a Facebook post and I called it ‘Black Canvas’. I said we’ll go there and create something beautiful out of this terrible disaster that has been imposed on the area.”
Asked how it was still possible to ride on the scorched fields, Deutsch could only acknowledge the difficulties and lament the extent of the damage inflicted on the Gaza border area.
“It is extremely sad and very difficult. I have a lot of friends who live in the Gaza border region and they told me about the situation, but I didn’t fully understand just how bad it was until I went there myself,” he explained.
“Everything is burnt, black and dead. Everything you look at is simply completely charred—fields, forests. It’s so sad to see," he said, before adding optimistically, “The black does come out nicely in pictures.”
The overall goal, he said, was to encourage continued visits to the area. “Obviously, as a photographer I love places that photograph well, but at the end of the day, what we wanted was to let people see that even after the fires, and despite all the landmass which has been affected, the land can still be visited, you can still ride bikes there,” Deutsch said.
He posted his photos on social media and received an outpouring of support. “This post worked wonderfully and people from the Gaza region welcomed the support,” he said.
Deutsch found the support, enthusiasm and willingness of others to volunteer to help the Israeli residents particularly heartwarming.
“There were those who asked how they could volunteer and help the residents. Someone even attached a post for a new application against fires that he developed and wanted to try and find funding for,” Deutsch said.
“It was a lot of fun that we also succeeded in creating something extremely positive, which conveys a message. We are not people from the army and we have no political or military solutions to deal with the situation, but we can show people the pictures and show them that despite the fires, nothing is over and you can still come to the Gaza region,” he concluded.
