The creation of images has been a pursuit for Alon Shastel since boyhood. At the age of 10, he began using analog cameras and developing the images in a darkroom constructed in the back of an old bus. Using film, he feels he can establish a closer connection to nostalgic visions that relate to memories of his early years.His body of work encompasses evocative portraits and fashion editorials for clients like DIOR, YSL, GUCCI, LA’CONTRIE, ADISH, PURPLE FASHION MAGAZINE, KING KONG MAGAZINE and more. In his work, Alon often documents youth in natural landscapes, reviving his childhood memories in Israel. Throughout his photographs, youth remains an overarching theme, which he captures with rawness and sensuality. Largely cast from the street, his subjects appear in their natural state, without makeup and direct in their expressions. But Shastel’s work goes beyond a superficial representation of young people reconciling their beauty and awkwardness. He finds a deeper resonance of the individual - hidden qualities that can be at once intimate and unguarded.
Alon Shastel, born 1991, is a photographer based between Paris and Tel Aviv.