This article appeared in the July 15, 2004 Jewish Advocate.

Photographer links ancient texts and the concept of wilderness

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

The 1,500 square-mile area of the Sinaitic peninsula through which the Hebrews wandered for forty years is a triangular region without a single river. With its base toward the north and its apex toward the south, the range between them (with the widest point about 150 miles wide) is about 250 miles. The northern part of the triangular peninsula is called the "wilderness of the wanderings," the western portion the "wilderness of Shur," and the eastern the "wilderness of Paran." Lying between the Dead Sea and the Hebron Mountains is the barren "wilderness of Judea.”

While dictionary.com defines “wilderness” as “something characterized by bewildering vastness, perilousness, or unchecked profusion,” photographer Joel Davidson (no relation) sees infinite possibilities in the uncharted state. His exhibition, which runs throughout the month of July at The Overdraught Pub in Cambridge, is a collection of wilderness images. Taken from his ongoing “Codes” series, they resonate with his spiritual and religious base. “The wilderness is for me to navigate and receive the code for which I am to learn and follow as a pathway,” he said. “Through images, the codes are documented.”

Davidson, 36, a Natick native who was bar mitzvahed at Temple Israel, graduated with a 1991 degree in Mass Communications (motion picture production) and Fine Arts (photography) from Emerson College. His father, David S. Davidson, was in the first confirmation class at Temple Emeth in Chestnut Hill. “He was named after my great-grandfather David S. Davidson, an Eastern European rabbi and teacher who emigrated to the US,” he said. His grandfather, Harold Davidson, was one of the Ten Minion at Temple Emeth. Their quest for learning inspired Davidson to explore ancient texts that provided bases for his art.

The photos were taken during three visits to Prospect Hill Park, which lies off Totten Pond Road in Waltham. He had planned to visit several locations for the collection, but this spot, with a panoramic city view atop the hill, was enough in itself. “It used to be a ski lodge, at one point and fell into neglect,” explained Davidson, who had not visited the site in his 12-year residence in the city. While there on his last birthday, he was struck by a paradox: “A beautiful stream fed by industrial park run-off, a flower on the tip top of the hill only to be revealed as a fake plastic flower and the abandoned and the claimed, such as the roads and marked paths to the alcoves and other relics still standing.” Having read the texts of ancient Judaic wanderings, he saw the vista in terms of a personal journey aligned with this history, and how it might be revealed in codes or signs. “My journey is their journey,” he thought. “My wilderness is their wilderness.”

For Davidson, the camera, like man and the earth, is a vessel. “In my readings, I found that the Judaic concept of vessels and the use of the camera drew parallel lines for me. This series is an extension of the influence of Judaism in my life.”

The Overdraught Pub is located at 877 Cambridge St. in East Cambridge. For more information, please call Out of the Blue Gallery at 617-354-5287, E-mail joelh.davidson@comcast.net, or visit www.joeldavidsonphotography.com.