Chlorophilia : Artists : Roei Greenberg

The rural walk is a well-known English cultural practice. Though it may be civil, the act of walking itself is rooted in an ideology from my own cultural background; to walk the land is to know the land, and therefore suggests belonging, entitlement and ownership. I begin to survey the English countryside, becoming familiar with the island's geography, an act of mapping that refers to imperial and colonial histories.

Pertaining to Romanticism, I appropriate the visual rules of the picturesque; traditionally used to create an illusion of social and natural harmony. The dramatic light and weather conditions combined with forensic attention to details and on-site interventions intend to provoke the ambiguous feelings of seduction and alienation. Poetic and alluring yet tinged with irony, the images seek to disrupt traditional modes of representation in a place where land ownership and social hierarchy have shaped the form and perception of the landscape for centuries.

I am a London based, Israeli artist. I have recently completed an MA Photography (distinction) from The Royal College of Art. I grew up on a Kibbutz, located on the northern Israeli border with Lebanon. In 2009 I moved to Tel Aviv, where I completed a BA Photography at Minshar Art College in 2013.

My long-term projects are concerned with landscape as a complex intersection between culture, geography and autobiography, and the effects of human activity on land, political borders and ecology. My practice is rooted in the history of the medium, through the use of large format camera and film that create a multi-layered photographic perspective and seeking to disrupt traditional modes of landscape representation; I have dedicated years to investigating the Israeli landscape, its geography,& historical narratives in relation to my own biography; leading to my award winning series entitled Along the Break.

In 2018 I left Israel to attend the Royal College of Art, and in my search for a new subject matter, found myself once again drawn to questions of land and power, belonging and legitimacy. My work then, combines an objective aesthetic with a strong emphasis on thorough research.

Credit: Tom Medwell

www.roeigreenbergphotography.com