Local Photographer Aims to Show Others the 'Diverse' Israel She Knows

When Huntington Woods resident Sherry Gilman lays her eyes on Israel, she sees something different than most of the world.

As a photographer, she’s capturing the country as an art form, and as an artist, she’s inspired by her grandparents who escaped from Nazi France and mom who emigrated from France to America.

“We are very pro-Israel and when I had the opportunity, I moved there. I had been there before, but I wanted to try living there,” Gilman explained. “It was amazing; I’d recommend it to anyone.”

Gilman, who studied and fell in love with photography well before the digital age, moved to Israel in her early 30s and lived for 12 years until 1998. There, she roamed freely and traveled around to take photos of everyday life and things that intrigued her, from archeology to nature to people.

“The country has a little bit of everything, it’s easy to be a photographer there,” she explained. “Too often Israel is represented from only one perspective and that’s a negative one. I wanted to show that everything is there.”

With more than 10,000 photographs to choose from during her years as a Israeli citizen, mother and traveler, Gilman narrowed down a select 100 photographs to represent the diverse country she knows well. These photos have been compiled for an exhibit in the that opens Thursday night with a meet-and-greet reception with Gilman.

“Israel is a very spiritual place. Whether they are Jewish or Christian or any other religion, people feel a spiritual connection when they are in Israel. I think living in Israel is like living next to God. I grew up that way,” Gilman said.

“But, the photos aren’t just from a Jewish perspective. There are various cultures represented from ancient monasteries to ancient mosques, Arabs at the beach to people praying at the temple wall — it’s a little bit of everything, which Israel is.”

As a photographer, Gilman says her main mission isn’t just to reconnect with a place that embodies her past, present (as she visits her three children there), and future (as she hopes to one day move back), but she hopes to show people a inside glimpse of modern day Israel.

“I think people need to have their eyes open. It’s a beautiful land filled with beautiful people and we’re all diverse, though we all stand together when necessary. More often than not, people don’t go there and see for themselves. They read a biased opinion and get the wrong idea and that happens in every country.”

Gilman battles misunderstandings about being an American-born woman while she’s abroad just as she works to help people better understand being Israeli here in America.

“I just want to show as many photos of the real Israel as possible and I did the best I could,” she said. “I hope that people will be inspired to go there and see for themselves what an amazing place it is.”

If you go

• What: Sherry Gilman’s exhibit “Israel: Photos for Everyone”
• When: Opening reception 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday. The exhibit will run through June 28.
• Where: Woods Gallery, in the lower level of the
• Admission: Free to the public
• More information: 248-581-2696 or woodsgallery.org.

For more information on Gilman's work of "Life in the Holy Land" or statement as an artist, visit sherryphoto.com.