Semites, The Album

Charif Benhelima (°1967, Brussels) is an artist with Belgian, Jewish-Sefardic and Arabic roots. It is only during a visit in New York that Benhelima realizes his name also implies a Jewish background. His whole oeuvre thereafter is a photographic quest in search of identity and the sense of being an outsider. For his series 'Semites' (2005), presented in a limited signed book, Charif Benhelima chose the polaroidcamera 600 as a working instrument, enabling him to question issues of identity and reality that result in what can be called a fake documentary work. 'The Semites: The Album' comprises 90 (2 x 45) polaroid pictures of already existing images: they are reproductions received via the polaroidcamera, in which the flash of the camera is clearly visible. The reflection of this light shines on top of the original image and becomes visible through over-exposure on the final result. Benhelima's polaroids deliver a one-on-one image: the moment crystallizes itself without detours in the photo. The photo instantly becomes the final result of the research. In this way, the polaroid image is even more desorienting. Details of the faces become blurry instead of sharp and well delineated. Benhelima thus creates a link with vague memories we have of our parents during the time we were children. Apart from Charif's search of identity and sense of belonging, reflection on photography is an equally important basis of the artist's artistic practice. During the exhibition in BE-Part Waregem devoted to 'Semites', Charif juxtaposed 135 images of Jewish, Arabic and Sefardic portraits and portraits of himself on a panel. The result is a personal document; a collage of images that reflect conflicting and contrasting identities.