About the artist:

Ron Agam, French/American (1958 - ) Ron Agam Ron Agam, son of Israeli artist Yaacov Agam, translated his upbringing in an artistic environment to the medium of his choice--photography. At the age of six, Ron recalls being drawn to the camera and shooting stills of his father`s work. In his father`s Paris studio, Ron played in the darkroom, fascinated by the image materializing in the darkness. Ron was born in Paris. There he attended yeshivas, acquiring a solid religious education, and studied photography with professional photographers. His youth was divided between Paris and Rehovot, Israel. He deeply values his education and feels it helped mold him into who he is today. Growing up with a camera always in hand, Ron began illustrating Jewish life with his photographs. Through the eye of the camera, he has now captured thousands of daily Jewish rituals and religious moments, unique spots of time and place from all parts of the world. Ron has roots in Jewish-Israeli culture. Through his mother, Clila, who passed away twenty years ago, he is descended from both opposing Hasidim and Mitnagdim traditions. He can trace his ancestry seven generations to the founder of Chabad, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liady. Clila`s maternal grandfather, Meir Entin, was a founder of Rehovot. In addition, Ron`s paternal grandfather, Yehoshua Gibstein, was a rabbi, a kabbalist who devoted his life to Jewish religious studies. Rabbi Gibstein wrote several books on Jewish spirituality, including: Torah, Prayer, and Knowledge; Accomplishments of Man and the Sabbath; and Search for Kohelet. Ron`s mother and father met in Paris at the "Select" in Montparnasse, a coffee house frequented by Israelis. Clila was from Rehovot and Yaacov was from Rishon Lezion. Although Ron lives in New York City, his ties to Israel are strong. His first public exhibition was opened on May 17, 1994, at the Magidson Fine Art Gallery in Manhattan. He dedicated this show to his late mother. The exhibit consisted of thirty photos taken at the Western Wall and the ultra-Orthodox conclave of the Mea Shearim which constituted the basic portfolio for this commemorative collection. Ron`s photos have since been widely exhibited and published in numerous newspapers, magazines such as NEWSWEEK and TIME, and books in Israel, South America, and the United States. A coffee table collection was published in 1998 by Gefen Publishing. The introduction to the book was written by the Honorable Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mayor of the City of New York and Madonna wrote a comment as well. His professional assignments today are a mixture of prestigious commercial accounts in the field of fashion, industrial, entertainment, politics as well as commissioned portraits from the who`s who of the international business world. Ron is traveling the world for shootings in Europe, Asia, Middle-East, South America.