Ask about this item

Hevraya – working youth, pictures by M. Vorobeichic [Moshe Vorobeichic Raviv]. Tel Aviv: BaMa'aleh, 1935. Hebrew. In this book of pictures and photomontages, Moshe Vorobeichic Raviv (1904-1995) makes use of his distinctive Modernist style to capture for posterity moments in the life of working youth in Palestine. The pictures show children and teenagers at work in the market, in workshops, factories, and farm fields, as well as in the course of their studies at school, and at social gatherings, marches, and other events. The pictures are captioned, with interspersed excerpts of Hebrew poetry. The pictures and texts are imbued with the spirit of national revival; in the words of curator and art historian Rona Sela, "[…] In the case of Moshe Raviv-Vorobeichic, we may speak of the identification of the photographer with the subjugation of the visual to the national [cause] […] He viewed himself as a quintessentially Zionist photographer, and functioned with Zionist goals in mind, out of a pure sense of faith in the Zionist ethos" (Rona Sela, "Photography in Palestine in the 1930s–1940s, " Hebrew, p. 51). The book was presented as a complimentary gift to subscribers of BaMa'aleh, official newspaper of the HaNo'ar Ha'Oved, working youth movement. Moshe Vorobeichic Raviv (also known as Moi-Ver), born near Vilnius, Lithuania; multi-disciplinary avant-garde artist; graduate of the Bauhaus school in Dessau, Germany, and a pioneer in the technique of photomontage. Active, after immigrating to Palestine, as a graphic designer and photographer, working both independently and on behalf of a number of Zionist institutions, including the Histadrut Labor Federation. Was a founding member of the Safed Artists' Colony. VI, 64 pp., [1] f., 24.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Tears to edge of title page. Inscribed (in pen) on title page. Stains and creases to cover; small tears to edges of cover.