‘A Breath of Fresh Air’ 2022

The photography exhibition A Breath of Fresh Air, scheduled to open on September 12, 2022 at Sarona Park in Tel Aviv, comprises 50 portraits of transplant recipients and staff, taken pro bono by photographer Vardi Kahana, one of Israel’s top photographers. Kahana captured people who had undergone a lung transplant at Beilinson Hospital. Women and men, young and old, Jews and Arabs, from all over the country. The transplant recipients proudly faced Kahana’s camera, with the aim of informing the general public of the importance of organ donation and raising awareness of signing an  Adi  Card to save lives.

The exhibition’s participants are photographed in their element, some with their family members or pets and some with objects that, to them, represent their new lives ever since undergoing the transplant. For example, Avi Illouz was photographed next to the medals he had won running races after his lung transplant; Ruvi Gal, who has been able to go back to sea surfing thanks to the lung donation, chose to be photographed with his surfboard; and Tali Sloane is holding her tap dancing shoes – a hobby she has been able to pick up again since her transplant. The photographs also express the complexity of life after the transplant, such as the portrait taken of Shimon Ben Hamo, who chose to place in his palm the ten pills he takes every day since the operation and will continue taking for the rest of his life.

Entrance is free!