The White House Photograph

Gil Lavi is an internationally acclaimed photographer based in New York. Gil brings a vision that is informed by his diverse cultural and personal experiences into his photographs. His work ranges from the deeply political to the sexual conceptual with wide-ranging contemporary references. Born in Jerusalem on January 1st 1985, Lavi was raised in a family with attraction to art. Lavi began his communication career as a writer for local newspapers at the age of 14. At the same age, his photographs were exhibited publicly for the first time and by the age of 16 Gil was already working for a daily newspaper. During his compulsory military service with the Israeli Defense Forces, Lavi served as a chief photographer for the Ground Forces Command. In 2006 he established his own commercial photography and brand imagery consulting studio. In 2008 Lavi began working on commercial projects across Europe and the United States. During this period, he created 3 exhibitions of his personal work including "Under Attack" (looking at the impact of the global economic crisis on the United States), "Freeze" (focusing on urban life style in major Berlin, Paris, New York, Prague, Warsaw and Tel Aviv) and "City of War" (examining the psychological implications of a war through a view of the suburban terrain). Later the same year Lavi was chosen by Forbes Magazine as one of the 300 most successful and promising Israelis under 40. Towards the end of 2009, the Israeli government hired Lavi to create the photographic concept and to produce the imagery for Israel's brand book and worldwide rebranding process. Lavi also produced and edited a photo essay about the murders of gay teenagers in Tel Aviv, published in the International Time Out magazine. Engaging people through photography has progressively played a major role in Lavi's career. He has been invited by different organizations as a keynote speaker at various conventions in the U.S., Israel and Latin America. Lavi's recent exhibitions include Month of Photography LA "One Shot: The City", New York Photo Festival "Feast your Eyes" photo exhibition, Solo exhibition at Tomasella of SoHo NY, "POV", Israel's 1st photo festival, "What is Religion" by WHcreation, "Energy, Strength or Power", Half Moon Bay, California, "Envisioning Justice", New York, "The Lie of the Land", Tel Aviv.