Flag Bearers Photo Exhibit Showcases Israeli Paralympians

Israeli photography teachers volunteered to celebrate and bring awareness to parasports athletes in honor of Independence Day.

By Abigail Klein Leichman, ISRAEL21c

“Flag Bearers,” a new exhibit at the ILAN Ramat Gan Sports Center for the Disabled for Israel Independence Day, features photos of a dozen Israeli Paralympic athletes.

These athletes represent the country in competitions abroad, including the European Championships, World Championships and Paralympic Games.

All the portraits were taken by volunteers from Haklika (a wordplay on “click” and “clique”), a group of Israeli photography teachers who do social photography projects designed for encouragement and inspiration.

Their goal for this project was “to give a visual representation of the connection between the athletes and the flag, a connection that is all about passion, inspiration and pride.”

Keren Isaacson, the official photographer of the Israel Paralympic Committee, curated the exhibition.

“Five years ago, Keren told me that very few people come to parasports competitions and she can’t be at every competition,” says Ziv Barak, one of the founders of Haklika. “I saw this myself when I went to a wheelchair basketball competition.”

Ever since, Barak has recruited Haklika volunteers to photograph every important game around the country so that these athletes will get the recognition they deserve.