Following her award-winning monograph 5683 miles away, in which she considered the meaning of normal life in her homeland of Israel, in Intermarried Yael Ben-Zion fixes her camera on another personal but politically charged theme: intermarriage.
Ben-Zion initiated the project in 2009 by contacting an online parent group in Washington Heights, her Manhattan neighborhood, inviting couples who define themselves as mixed to participate. As her own marriage is mixed, she was interested in the many challenges faced by couples who choose to share their lives regardless of their different origins, ethnicities, races or religions.
Through layered images and revealing texts (including excerpts from a questionnaire she asked her subjects to fill out), Ben-Zion constructs a subtle, reality-based narrative in which she explores and interprets the complex, multifaceted issues posed by intermarriage.
The book includes a foreword by Amy Chua, an essay by Maurice Berger, and an afterword by Yael Ben-Zion. Designed by Jeanne Verdoux.