CD: Who is Natalie Schor? Tell us something about yourself.

NS: I am an ordinary person. After having graduated high school and completing military service, I attended the University of Tel Aviv. At that time, I studied both the History of Art and the History of the Theater.


CD: You started collaborating with us back in March, with your photos for “ALBUM” and “PHOTO OF THE DAY”. During the first week of May, I have published one daily photo by Natalie Schor, within the cycle “LIFE VIEWED AS A METAPHOR”. How do you conceive of life through the camera?

NS: Just like it really is, with its beauties and sorrows, trying very hard to catch the undiscovered, the details of significance, the unspoken and the commonplace in clichés.


CD: How did you come by this passion of photography?

NS: Several years ago I was given a digital camera as a gift. I enrolled at the Club of Artistic Photography at the University. I was so fortunate to be discovered by the chief editor of the international magazine "ROMANIAN VIP", Mr. George Roca. He requested the opinion of a professional, the film director Zoltan Terner. That brought to light a very eulogistic and encouraging magazine article-essay. So, I started collaborating with NIRAM ART from Madrid, where the young, generous of heart, and artistic guide, Eva Defeses, offered me not only spaces in the pages of her periodical, but even an interview.


CD: The magazine NIRAM ART, together with the publishing-house NIRAM ART have organized the second edition of NIRAM ART PRIZES this year, that includes several sections, one of them being the one dedicated to photography. The nominations included five artists (four of them from Spain: Clara Llamazares, MIEDHO, Laura Thomas, Germán Peraire) and also Natalie Schor - the photographer of Romanian origin from Israel. The awards ceremony took place in Madrid, on May 29th 2010. Congratulations for having been awarded the trophy. Were you present at the ceremony? How did you feel then? What does this trophy represent for you as a photographer?

NS: No, unfortunately, I was not present at the ceremonies. The truth is, the nomination was such a surprise. I really did not expect it. Nor did I expect to be awarded the trophy. I enjoyed it very much. I consider that the prize was a stimulus, an urge, a call from the distance...


CD: Some days ago, one of your photos was published as a background of an action for the popularization of the most remarkable writers from Israel in the Iediot Aharonot newspaper. Could you offer us more details?

NS: Well, it happened that someone from an important publicity institution saw on the Internet a certain photo of mine made in the old location of Jerusalem. Maybe the image served this project; I mean the launching of "good literature" initiated by the most important newspaper from Israel, in association with one of the most powerful banks from the country. The background of this photo offered them the idea of printing the cover of a recommended book in the cultural and artistic supplement of the newspaper.


CD: You illustrated the February edition of the cultural magazine TIMPUL, published in Iasi, Romania. You have collaborated at AGERO (Germany), STAR PRESS (USA), ROMANIAN VIP (Australia). How did all these collaborations come to life?

NS: The writer Liviu Antonesei honored me with his confidence. He also saw part of my photos and proposed my collaboration. He showed courage in launching an unknown name to people and I enjoyed the chance to appear in a well-known publication. I am so happy that my photos drew the attention of several men of culture, such as Roni Caciularu and Mihai Batog Bujenita. All of them wrote very nice articles about me. I even dare say commendable, as the articles appeared in various publications, later on being republished, together with the illustrations by others.


CD: Who inspired you in your artistic career?

NS: I do believe that no one inspired me. Otherwise, I feel that I could have become a simple imitator. However, a young gallery owner and critic of art, Kasevits, found some "parallelism" with the famous French photographer Henry Cartier-Bresson. This makes me feel good, especially since I saw the master's creations only some time later.


CD: When did you think a photographic art exhibition might be opened on the Canadian soil? What about Romania?

NS: I have exhibited quite often in galleries and collective exhibition in Israel. But, however, it is still too early to think of a personal exhibition, far too early to do that abroad. The question is, nevertheless, flattering.


CD: They say you were a "non-conformist", who, nowadays, dominates the market due to your refusal to imitate painting or graphics.

NS: I do not intend to imitate either painting or graphics. Not even life. I would like to find what is the most outstanding in everyday reality, the special in the banality, the humor in sadness, the beauty in modesty.


CD: Your photos became true-to-life proofs of everyday life. The realities you reveal through your lens show a unique tragic note. How do you manage conveying this state to the public?

NS: Reality itself includes this tragic note; sometimes it is tragic, other times it is comical, but very often it is tragic-comical.


CD: You are not a stranger in painting. Which way is this mirrored in your photos?

NS: I studied arts, but I did not wish to imitate them.


CD: Your photos always bear a title. Why?

NS: Not always, but very often, that is the truth. Attaching the title may deepen the subject-matter, may guide the idea, and may add a drop of humor or of sadness.


CD: What did you desire to take photos of up until now and why have you still not done it?

NS: A far-away dream has been to take photos in Kenya during a safari. I do love animals so very much.


CD: Thank you for the thoughts, Natalie, which you've shared with the readers of the magazine ACUM. Please, do continue dreaming because nothing is impossible if you desire it. We are waiting for the photos you will bring to life in Kenya!