Gomma Photography Grant 2024
Tell Me Where Your Freedom Lies
Photographer
Rona Bar and Ofek Avshalom
Tell Me Where Your Freedom Lies
27 Jan, 2025
"This body of work walks through the doors of its protagonists’ homes to offer viewers an exclusive, candid glance at their journey through self-discovery. In this series we chose to frame individuals of all ages and walks of life within the personal space they have created for themselves. In a society that keeps trying to put you in a certain box, sometimes the small acts of self-expression matter the most. We believe that all choices we make contribute to forging the person we are, whether consciously or unconsciously. While the word “freedom” may evoke images of wide open space rather than the interiors, we chose to frame our subjects between four walls. We felt that it represented the enduring search for self-expression and identity. At its core, “Tell Me Where Your Freedom Lies“ is a compelling portrait of humanity. A kaleidoscopic representation of life and its different stages."
About the photographer
Rona Bar and Ofek Avshalom
Rona Bar and Ofek Avshalom are a photography duo living and working in London, UK. Drawing on a storytelling-based approach to the photographic medium, the two are continuously striving to engage viewers from all backgrounds in a journey into their visual world. Suspended between fantasy and reality, the factual and the bizarre, their universe immerses whoever comes across it in a blend of surreal visions, daily experiences, and artistic references which all contribute to making their signature style and aesthetic vocabulary so naturally captivating. With a preference for striking colour palettes and researched lighting techniques, Bar and Avshalom portray life around them through an honest, distinct, and all-encompassing gaze. Leveraging their knowledge of art history and combining it with their natural inclination toward all-around contemporary culture, they restitute a visual rendition of today’s society that is at once poignant and thought-provoking in its nature. Also known as Fotómetro, the duo looks at their craft as a means of advocating the urge for a more diverse and authentic global community; a mission that the photographers pursue on a day-to-day basis by casting non-models for both their personal (eg. Proof of Existence, 2023-ongoing; Us, 2020-2022; Tell Me Where Your Freedom Lies, 2022; Youth, 2021) and commercial work. Turning the lens onto themes such as identity, individuality, and relationships, their practice wants to be a mirror for the infinite facets of the human experience, pushing the boundaries of gender, race, and sexuality among others.
