Pre-State Photographic Archives & the Zionist Movement

In the 1920s, the Jewish National Fund relocated its operations from Europe to Jerusalem, bringing with it a bold vision for documenting—and directing—the story of the Jewish people in the land of Israel. One of its first major initiatives was the creation of a groundbreaking photographic archive, conceived not merely as a record of events but as a tool for shaping collective memory and mobilizing support. These striking images played a central role in fundraising campaigns, public outreach, and the construction of a new national narrative in pre-state Palestine. From portraits of pioneers to depictions of settlement and transformation, the archive helped define how the Zionist enterprise was seen both at home and abroad. Join us to explore the archive’s formative years, the visual strategies it employed, and the enduring impact of its imagery on the making of a nation. Register: t-b-s.me/prestatephoto

Dr Rotem Rozental, is the Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Los Angeles Center of Photography (LACP). Between 2016-2022, she served as Chief Curator at American Jewish University, where she was also Assistant Dean of the Whizin Center for Continuing Education and Senior Director of Arts and Creative Programming. Her book, Pre-State Photographic Archives and the Zionist Movement, was published in 2023 (Routledge), and was named recipient of the Jordan Schnitzer First Book Award by the Association for Jewish Studies. Also in 2023, Rotem edited and contributed a text to the artist book Itinerarium by photo-collage artist Shay Zilberman. Rotem has been researching the intersections of photo-based art, technology and visual culture for nearly two decades and is currently working on a nonfiction memoir project that is inspired by this work. She is also a lecturer at USC Roski School of Art and Design Critical Studies Department. Rotem mentors artists worldwide and contributes regularly to magazines, journals and exhibition catalogues. Her writings about contemporary art and image-based media were published in Artforum, Photographies, Jewish Currents, Tablet and Forward, among other outlets. Her essay, “Call the Midlife,” will be published in Afterimage in 2025, and her story, “A Scar, Visible Only to Me,” was recently published in the anthology Scars by Beyond Words Magazine.