The exhibit Yakov Agor: Photographer, curated by Dani Karavan, Israel Prize Laureate, and Professor Shimon Sandhaus is currently on display in the Haft Hall Gallery of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
Born in the Ukraine, Yakov Agor (1911 – 1996) studied at the Berlin School of Art. During World War II he designed sets for the Soviet film industry and in 1954 began working as a photojournalist and photographer of avant-garde theatre, including Tadeusz Kantor’s Polish theater company.
Agor immigrated to Israel in 1958 and worked as a photographer for HaOlam HaZeh from 1960, and for the weekend supplement of Haaretz between 1963 and 1980, with an emphasis on theatre and dance performances.
An exhibition featuring Agor’s works was curated in 1991 by Michal Heiman at the Art Gallery of Camera Obscura School of Art, Tel Aviv, and in 1995 the film Please Credit: Yakov Agor, perpetuating his life and art, was directed by Sivan Arbel for Israel’s Channel 2. Considered Israel’s leading culture photographer in the 1960s and 1970s, Agor worked only with available light, resulting in a distinctive look to his photographs. The exhibit will remain open through October 8, 2011.
