Photographer Silvia Alessi Says She Never Considered Withdrawing From Tel Aviv Competition

Italian photographer Silvia Alessi said she had never considered withdrawing from Tel Aviv’s Meitar photography competition and that nobody had pressured her to do so, in an interview published on November 9. She opposed excluding artists from festivals or exhibitions because of their nationality. Alessi said she had reached the Meitar final three times and felt a special connection to the prize. She described art as a way for people to meet and exchange ideas amid divisions, and said curiosity, emotion and encounters with people guided her choice of destinations and stories rather than a political starting point. Her series What Escapes the Veil forms part of The Cut, a project she said she had pursued for five years exploring hair’s relationship to expression and freedom. It includes women from Iran and Afghanistan. Alessi, 51, is based in Bergamo in northern Italy and continues to work as a hairdresser. Alessi began working as a hairdresser and makeup artist at 17 and became interested in documentary photography during a trip to Asia in 2004. She described researching before trips and working with local intermediaries and translators. She said she does not take photographs on the first day, spending time listening and building trust before making portraits.