Say Something About the Sea

Say Something About the Sea is a new photography book by Asaf Einy which explores conceptions of masculinity in the Middle East, drawing equally from fashion photography. His queer gaze shows how different bodies of color, and kinds of manhood perform in the space in which he works – resulting in a continuum along which identity, ethnicity, physicality, sexuality and style engage, against all odds, in a precarious interdependency.

The book is divided into three chapters. Each examines the eros-driven relationship between the photographer and the photographed. In the first chapter, “Bruises,” Einy’s subjects and scenes merge into a series that mixes staged and documentary portraiture. The second chapter, “Thicket,” activates the idea of the working brief using online platforms such as Fiverr for the creation of images. This chapter includes an essay by Dori Ben-Alon exploring Einy’s oeuvre in light of local identity politics and the notion of the photographer’s signature eye that is embedded in both fashion and traditional documentary photography.

The third chapter, “Be Water,” makes room for Einy’s ongoing dialogue with his subjects, in which the original roles of subject/object are abandoned in favor of friendship and collegiality. The book opens with excerpts from a video work by Einy exploring the tension between the stranger and the familiar as a constant negotiation.

The decision to include Arabic, Hebrew, and English is a political statement that insists on creating a shared space for the two prominent languages in Palestine/Israel, and invites international audiences to participate in this discussion. A seminal quote by Jean Genet accompanied us from the beginning of making the book: “Beauty has no other origin than a wound, unique, different for each person, hidden or visible, that everyone keeps in himself, that he preserves and to which he withdraws when he wants to leave the world for a temporary but profound solitude.”