| Ron
Agam (1958 - )
Ron Agam, son of Israeli artist Yaacov Agam, translated his upbringing
in an artistic environment to the medium of his choice--photography.
At the age of six, Ron recalls being drawn to the camera and
shooting stills of his father`s work. In his father`s Paris studio,
Ron played in the darkroom, fascinated by the image materializing
in the darkness. Ron was born in Paris. There he attended yeshivas,
acquiring a solid religious education, and studied photography
with professional photographers. His youth was divided between
Paris and Rehovot, Israel. He deeply values his education and
feels it helped mold him into who he is today. Growing up with
a camera always in hand, Ron began illustrating Jewish life with
his photographs. Through the eye of the camera, he has now captured
thousands of daily Jewish rituals and religious moments, unique
spots of time and place from all parts of the world. Ron has
roots in Jewish-Israeli culture. Through his mother, Clila, who
passed away twenty years ago, he is descended from both opposing
Hasidim and Mitnagdim traditions. He can trace his ancestry seven
generations to the founder of Chabad, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of
Liady. Clila`s maternal grandfather, Meir Entin, was a founder
of Rehovot. In addition, Ron`s paternal grandfather, Yehoshua
Gibstein, was a rabbi, a kabbalist who devoted his life to Jewish
religious studies. Rabbi Gibstein wrote several books on Jewish
spirituality, including: Torah, Prayer, and Knowledge; Accomplishments
of Man and the Sabbath; and Search for Kohelet. Ron`s mother
and father met in Paris at the "Select" in Montparnasse,
a coffee house frequented by Israelis. Ron`s siblings, Orit and
Orram are both in the creative fields. Clila was from Rehovot
and Yaacov was from Rishon Lezion. Although Ron lives in New
York City, his ties to Israel are strong. His first public exhibition
was opened on May 17, 1994, at the Magidson Fine Art Gallery
in Manhattan. He dedicated this show to his late mother. The
exhibit consisted of thirty photos taken at the Western Wall
and the ultra-Orthodox conclave of the Mea Shearim which constituted
the basic portfolio for this commemorative collection. Ron`s
photos have since been widely exhibited and published in numerous
newspapers, magazines such as NEWSWEEK and TIME, and books in
Israel, South America, and the United States. A coffee table
collection was published in 1998 by Gefen Publishing. The introduction
to the book was written by the Honorable Rudolph W. Giuliani,
Mayor of the City of New York and Madonna wrote a comment as
well.
His professional assignments today are a mixture of prestigious
commercial accounts in the field of fashion, industrial, entertainment,
politics as well as commissioned portraits from the who`s who
of the international business world. Ron is traveling the world
for shootings in Europe, Asia, Middle-East, South America.
To Artist Showroom
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