Shimon Attie

Attie, S. Almstadtstrasse 43 (formerly Grenadierstrasse 7): former Hebrew bookstore, 1930, Berlin, 1992, colour photograph and on-location installation.

Shimon Attie is an artist who has projected images of old photographs on to buildings to evoke a sense of the past.

in Berlin he visited an old Jewish quarter and using a slide projector found buildings that he could project the photographs on that resembled the background of the pictures. He then photographed the scene with the projections to juxtapose the present with the past, evoking a connection of place with a lost community.

http://shimonattie.net/portfolio/the-writing-on-the-wall/

He repeats this idea when visiting Rome by finding old photos taken at the location of the ancient ruins and projecting them against the same locations or near the same locations.

Again the subjects in the projections are of Jews photographed in the early part of the 20th century who lived in Rome.

Attie wants his images to evoke thoughts of ‘Otherness’ and explore ideas of how a city eastheticizes and packages its historical sites for public consumption and he wants to invite reflection and meditation on history.

http://shimonattie.net/portfolio/the-history-of-another/

Attie, S. At the Colosseum (Looking towards the Arch of Titus), On-location slide projection, Rome, Italy, lambda photograph, 2003.

I liked these projects very much.