Lepers

For He'arat Shulaim 12, which was to be held at Beit Hansen, Jerusalem's former leper hospital, Naomi Gerstein and I came up with the idea that we give visitors the opportunity to have their picture taken with a leper.

The space was divided in two. In the reception area people were told about the leper, about how it's absolutely harmless it is to be with him/her, and waited their turn. The second area was made into a photo-studio, with bright flourecent lighting and a professional photographer.

The focus for us was not so much the picture (as an object) as it was the experience of being photographed with a possibly contagious person. As a stand-in for the leper we built a crate. The people were told that the leper was sitting inside the crate. There was a recording of breathing playing from within the crate.