The end of consensus: The crisis of the 1980s and the turning-point in Israeli photography

Israeli photography in its broader sense began with the Zionist resettlement of the Land of Israel in the late nineteenth century. Israeli photography can be divided into two stages: the early one, in which it reflected solidarity with the Zionist cause, and the contemporary stage, in which it has become highly critical of it, at times with evident sarcasm. Yet, to date, the watershed separating the one stage from the other has not been defined. By analysing developments in Israeli public life and culture, the article shows that the first few months of the 1982 war in Lebanon, which shattered the Israeli national consensus, found their immediate reflection in Israeli photography. During the 1980s Israeli photography became transformed, as the iconic images focusing on the Zionist hero were replaced by the images of those who were generally overlooked, the Palestinians in particular. This new image is defined as a reversed icon.