Micha Kirshner

• Name — Micha Kirshner • Born — 1947 • Birthplace — Milan, Italy • Died — 11 September 2017 • Place of death — Tel HaShomer, Israel • Education — School of Visual Arts, New York City (1971–1975) • Known for — Photography, Photojournalism, Staged Photography, Portraiture • Movement — Post-modern photography (in Israel) • Awards — Israel Museum Photography Prize (1988) • Alma Mater — School of Visual Arts • Occupation — Photographer, Photojournalist, Educator, Curator • Illustration — Micha Kirshner in the studio of the program "Journalist's Certificate” on Radio Tel Aviv, September 2015

Kirshner was born in 1947 in Milan, Italy, to parents who had survived the Second World War and were awaiting permission to immigrate to Palestine. In 1948 the family moved to Israel, and he grew up in Ramat HaSharon, north of Tel Aviv. Between 1971 and 1975 Kirshner studied photography and art in New York, where he was exposed to conceptual and documentary practices that were increasingly recognized within art schools and museums. This period of training shaped his later interest in constructed images and in the relationship between photographic realism and social critique.

After returning to Israel, Kirshner joined the staff of the monthly magazine Monitin, where he worked as a photographer from 1979 to 1988. For Monitin he produced portrait series of leading figures from politics, culture, and the arts, often constructing elaborate studio situations rather than relying on spontaneous reportage. From the mid‑1990s he contributed a regular photography column to the weekly edition of the newspaper Maariv, combining images and text to address current events and public personalities. In these assignments he continued to refine a visual language that blurred the boundaries between press photography, staged portraiture, and conceptual art.

Kirshner’s work is frequently described by critics and curators as “opinion portraiture,” a term that refers to portraits that articulate the photographer’s viewpoint through composition, pose, and setting. Rather than present subjects as neutral figures, his images use costumes, props, and lighting to suggest commentary on power, gender, nationalism, and media imagery. One strand of his work focused on iconic Israeli public figures, such as politicians and entertainers, whose images he framed in ways that emphasized theatricality and performance. Another strand addressed marginalized or vulnerable subjects, including a series made during the First Intifada portraying Palestinians injured by Israeli security forces, which sparked debate about the ethics of representation and the role of empathy in news photography.