Catalog of a Collection of Photographs by Gérard Allon in the Judaica Collection of the Harvard library

An additional and significant area in which Allon excels
is stage photography. His love and deep understanding
of the medium, based on his wide experience
in France—especially shooting the Living Theater in
Lille in the late 1960s—made him one of the leading
figures of the field in Israel. He eventually was appointed
house photographer for the Israel National
Theater Ha-Bimah where for the last several decades he
has created exceptional visual documentation of their
groundbreaking plays. In addition, he has worked for
the Cameri Theater, the Yiddish Theater, and the
Jerusalem Khan Theater. Besides regular stage photography,
he has also contributed visuals that were an
integral part of the stage design as well as of the play
itself. A most remarkable such contribution was the
video he produced for Allen Ginsberg’s Kaddish for
Naomi. When the play was reviewed by the New York
Times on September 20, 2003, his work was more
highly praised than the play itself. As Margo Jefferson
wrote: “Video images are so popular that they can become
a visual tic. There is nothing generic, though,
about the work of Gerard Allon, the production’s multimedia
director; his images work as a musical score does.
Rhythms change; so does intensity” (Figures 6, 7).
Allon’s personal search for new visual possibilities and
languages has been a crucial aspect of his overall
creative activity, and he has never ceased to develop
new areas of interest. As part of adapting to his new
Figures 6, 7: From the video art film Kadish le-No‘omi Ginsberg (Kaddish for Naomi Ginsberg),
2000.
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