Meet the Artist- Youval Hai

Magasin III Jaffa Books series of meetings with artists will host the artist Youval Hai with his artist book Dust & Scratches.

Dust & Scratches, the title of Youval Hai’s first artist book, refers to a filter in Photoshop used to smooth out the dust and scratches that appear on scanned negatives. The book’s subtitle Tel-Aviv Yafo, Israel sets the location of the project, but also frames Hai’s gaze at the city. The day to day observations and urban anecdotes become under this title a sweet and sour joke, as it looks like the city is in a dire need of a dust & scratches filter itself.

The book consists of photographs taken in the last decade, using various formats of analog cameras. Hai intensively documents his life, family and friends, as intimate moments are laid out alongside photographs taken while wandering the streets of Tel-Aviv. There is a clear visual sequence leading the reader, which breaks and jumps with hidden images and folded-in photographs, together creating a complex read, referring to Hai’s position and gaze.