Jerusalemites
A photographic story capturing 15 years of observation in Jerusalem — blessed by the President of Israel.
Fifteen years of street photography in Jerusalem · 2011–2026
The story
From Symbols to Living Fabric.
Jerusalem is most often documented through its stones: the Western Wall, the towers, the walls. This book shifts the gaze from symbols to the living fabric — from myth to reality.
Two nuns, a woman in a hijab with her children, an ultra-Orthodox man — all sharing the same gate of the Old City. The camera does not judge. It documents authentic coexistence.
The result of thousands of hours of walking and observation. A museum-quality collector's edition, printed on acid-free paper.
The Hebrew lettering throughout the book, including the title on the cover, is set in a typeface made from the handwriting of the late Aner Shapira, through the “Ot Chaim” initiative.
Jerusalem without makeup. Jerusalem of flesh and blood.
— Sharon Gabay, from the introduction
From the book
From the Introduction and the Acknowledgments
Moments That Seek to Represent Nothing
Street photography does not document only a moment; it documents layers. In Jerusalem, the ancient stone and the contemporary person share the same space — at times the same frame. Time is not a straight line but an accumulation: past, present and memory exist simultaneously.
Street photography in Jerusalem is a complicated matter. The camera is present in a charged space: religions, identities, political tensions and social divides. And yet, within this complexity there are moments that do not seek to represent anything. Two nuns, a woman in a hijab with her children and a baby stroller, an ultra-Orthodox man — all at the same gate of the Old City, in the same moment, breathing in the smell of the same bagel.
The camera serves here as an observing instrument. It does not seek to decide or to beautify. It documents incidental moments, beauty and pain existing side by side. This is Jerusalem without makeup. A Jerusalem of flesh and blood.
Intricate Craftwork
The book was built with great care, like intricate craftwork. Beyond the collection of photographs, it holds layers that reveal themselves through the relationship between the images and the narrative sequence. Connections that move between the geometric and the visual and the conceptual, critical statement.
This book is the record of fifteen years. Not a one-time project, but an ongoing process of thousands of hours of walking, observing and waiting. An attempt to create a human archive of a city that changes and stays the same. A deeply local book that seeks to speak in a broad language. A book about Jerusalem — but also about a person in a city.
These are the Jerusalemites.
From the Acknowledgments
The work of documentation is a matter of a split second, the instinct of a moment. But the work of selection proved a long, grueling journey, even more demanding than the photography itself. Over the past year I sat in front of the screen day after day, hours every day, trying to draw the precise image out of an archive of more than a million and a half moments caught in my lens over the past 15 years.
This journey was for me far more than editing; it was a lifeline. After the difficult documentation of Kfar Aza in October 2023 and the work on the exhibition "Holocaust in the Village," I withdrew into the studio for two years. The work on Jerusalemites saved me from the noise of the war, and it was the need to complete the book that drew me back out into the street for the first time at the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026. Facing that sea of material, I understood that it is truly impossible to find "the best ones." Letting go of certain images was as hard as a farewell, but the final selection was made out of an honest attempt to present Jerusalem as it really is: exposed, complex and human.
— Sharon Gabay
A glimpse
Images from the book
Honor
An Official Blessing from President Isaac Herzog
The President of Israel — an official blessing for the book Jerusalemites
Unofficial English translation (PDF) — the signed Hebrew original is the authoritative document
Ministry of Culture and Sport
A Letter of Appreciation from the Ministry of Culture and Sport
On October 18, 2026, the Culture and Arts Administration of Israel's Ministry of Culture and Sport sent a letter of appreciation and esteem for the photography book and documentary project “Jerusalemites”, signed by the Head of the Libraries Division, with copies to the Minister of Culture and Sport, the Ministry's Director General and the head of the Administration.
“Your book ‘Jerusalemites’ is a work of artistic, cultural and documentary value. It offers an in-depth view of Jerusalem not only as an urban and historical space, but first and foremost as a living city that carries within it diverse communities, identities, traditions and human stories.”
— Culture and Arts Administration, Ministry of Culture and Sport · from the official letter, October 18, 2026 (translated from the Hebrew)
Unofficial English translation (PDF) — the signed Hebrew original is the authoritative document
The President's Residence
The Meeting at the President's Residence
On July 19, 2026, Sharon Gabay was hosted at the President's Residence and presented “Jerusalemites” to President Isaac Herzog. The President browsed the book, and a signed print was shown at the meeting.
You are an amazing photographer. This thing is stunning in its beauty.
— Isaac Herzog, President of Israel · The President's Residence, July 19, 2026
The moment the book was presented · In Hebrew, with subtitles
Meeting photographs — credit: President's Residence staff.
International recognition
From Jerusalem to the world
Libraries worldwide
“Jerusalemites” is catalogued in 20 libraries in 4 countries, among them the National Library of Israel, Princeton and Harvard.
The White House, Washington D.C.
Sharon's previous books are held in the official White House collection.
United Nations, New York
Solo exhibition at the UN Headquarters.
Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
His book is part of the permanent collection.
Cultural Diplomacy
His work is used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and exhibited in embassies worldwide.
The book
One Object, Three Languages
A wide-format art book. Massive hardcover with a branded cardboard slipcase, both with selective Spot UV. Smyth sewn for durability and complete lay-flat viewing. Printed on 170gsm matte chromo paper.
ISBN: 978-965-597-787-5 · In the official record: National Library of Israel · Library holdings
Milestones
Quick facts
Reviews
What people say about the book
Thank you, dear Sharon Gabay, for this mission you carried out with talent, with professionalism, and above all with an immense love for Jerusalem.
You are such a unique photographer. You have the ability to photograph the soul of the people, and in this book, one can see the soul of Jerusalem. It is an amazing and important book that deserves to be distributed globally.
Sharon doesn't just photograph the Western Wall, the walls and the stones, but the human fabric that gives Jerusalem its soul. Thank you, Sharon, for building a living archive of Jerusalem — not only as it looks, but as it feels.
An important book like no other.
A masterpiece. A one-of-a-kind work of art.
This book is stunning. A precise blend of Jerusalem — its landscapes, its people, its colors.
The book is truly perfect. Profound, moving, and aesthetic. A new perspective on Jerusalem I had never seen before.
I have never seen a book like this, or anything similar done about Jerusalem.
The books are BEAUTIFUL! What an accomplishment and a gift for Jerusalem.
The editing and sequencing of the book is stunning, almost cinematic. Going beyond the images, the book itself is a work of art.
a living history of all of the, yes, diverse lives of the land
In the press
The Book in the International Press
Features, interviews and reviews of “Jerusalemites” since its publication, in Israel, the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa and Germany. Each card opens the original article.
Aish.com — "Jerusalemites: A Photo Essay"
A photo essay on Aish.com (October 18, 2026), in the site's Arts section, on the photography book "Jerusalemites". It carries 19 spreads from the book and an introduction on the book's gaze, from the city's symbols to its people.
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Dodho Magazine — "Jerusalemites: Sharon Gabay Captures Fifteen Years of Everyday Life in Jerusalem"
The international photography magazine Dodho on the book "Jerusalemites" and the exhibition of pairs.
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Israelnetz — "Fotobuch mit „Liebe zu Jerusalem“"
A feature by Jörn Schumacher in Germany's Israelnetz (5 October 2026) on the photography book "Jerusalemites". The article is in German.
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PhotoBook Journal — "Jerusalemites, Jerusalem 2011-2026"
A full independent review by Lee Halvorsen, Assistant Editor of PhotoBook Journal, the contemporary photobook magazine (September 21, 2026), of the photography book "Jerusalemites": "The editing and sequencing of the book is stunning, almost cinematic."
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Gateway News — "Jerusalemites — the people of Jerusalem through a photographer's lens"
A feature on the photography book "Jerusalemites" in Gateway News, a Christian news site in South Africa (17 September 2026), carrying a gallery of seven photographs from the book.
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St. Louis Jewish Light — "What connects these two Jerusalem photographs? Look at the rope."
A feature by Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content Officer of the St. Louis Jewish Light (16 September 2026), in the column "The Story in the Art" and as the site's top story. The piece follows the pairing method in "Jerusalemites" through three pairs: the nuns and the young women, the two older men, and the jump rope against the Mitzvah Tanz.
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The Jewish Post & News — "Jerusalemites"
Joanne Palmer's feature on the photography book "Jerusalemites" in Canada's Jewish Post & News (September 15, 2026): an interview with Sharon Gabay and 21 photographs from the book, reprinted with permission from the New Jersey Jewish News and the Jewish Standard.
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The Jewish Independent — "Jerusalemites through the lens"
A photo essay by Sharon Gabay in Australia's The Jewish Independent on the photography book "Jerusalemites" (8 September 2026), written in the first person and carrying a selection of photographs from the book: "These photographs of Jerusalem tell the city's stories through people not stones".
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The Jewish Standard — "Jerusalem"
A magazine feature by Joanne Palmer, editor of New Jersey's Jewish Standard (a Times of Israel partner), on the photography book "Jerusalemites" (September 3, 2026): an interview with Sharon Gabay and 21 photographs from the book. "We all live together 99 percent of the time."
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Jewish Journal — "Jerusalemites"
Boaz Hepner's spotlight in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal on the photography book "Jerusalemites" (August 20, 2026): a trilingual book, "a living history of all of the, yes, diverse lives of the land", including the meeting with President Herzog.
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Makor Rishon — "From the Symbols to the Living Fabric"
A feature in Arnon Segal's "Daf HaBayit" column in Makor Rishon on the photography book "Jerusalemites" (issue 1509, 10 July 2026).
Read the articleIndian Photo Festival 2026
Selected, Then Removed
The photobook Jerusalemites by Israeli photographer Sharon Gabay was selected for the Photobook Exhibition of the 12th Indian Photo Festival (Hyderabad, 26 November 2026 to 3 January 2027). The festival states that all submissions were reviewed anonymously. After the selection was published with the line "Sharon Gabay / Israel", the name was removed from the public list and the selection was cancelled in writing. The festival states that the decision is separate from the artistic evaluation of the work. Of 24 selected photobooks, this is the only one removed.
To ban it is equivalent to the book burning of the ’30s, and that led to awful things.
— Mike Huckabee, U.S. Ambassador to Israel · to JNS, 30 September 2026
Timeline (Israel time)
Coverage of the case
The Jewish Independent · Australia
Israeli photographer Sharon Gabay's Jerusalem Photos Pulled From India Festival
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JNS · United States
‘Equivalent to book burning of 1930s,’ Huckabee says of Indian festival nixing Israeli’s photos
Read the article
The Jewish Standard · United States
First it’s yes, then suddenly it’s no
Read the article
South African Jewish Report · South Africa
Festival bows to pressure and drops Jerusalem photographer
Read the articleU.S. Embassy in Israel
A Letter of Recommendation from Ambassador Mike Huckabee
On July 14, 2026, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee sent an official letter of recommendation for “Jerusalemites”, on U.S. Embassy Jerusalem letterhead.
You have the ability to photograph the soul of the people, and in this book, one can see the soul of Jerusalem. It is an amazing and important book that deserves to be distributed globally.
— Mike Huckabee, U.S. Ambassador to Israel · from the official letter, July 14, 2026
Diplomacy
An Official Gift to Ambassadors & Diplomats
Since its release, “Jerusalemites” has been presented as an official gift to public figures, ambassadors and diplomats from Israel and around the world — among them U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee — who wanted to see Jerusalem through Sharon Gabay's eyes. A few of the official meetings around the book.
The event
The Official Launch
On Jerusalem Day, the official launch of “Jerusalemites” was celebrated at the Jerusalem House of Quality. Guests, journalists and lovers of the city gathered among the exhibition prints — for opening remarks, live music and a first look at the book. A few moments from the evening.
Unboxing
The Book in Hand.
Unboxing by Dafna Liel, Channel 12 News
Final copies of the first edition, signed and numbered, $230