Mark Rafaelov

Photographer
    
Tel-Aviv. City with no break.
Location: Baku
Nationality: Israel
Biography: Hi, I am Mark, a freelance photographer born in USSR in 80′s. I moved to Israel in the age of 16, graduated high school there,  studied graphic design for 3 years in academy and received my BA later. Right after... MORE
Public Story
Tel-Aviv. City with no break.
Copyright Mark Rafaelov 2024
Updated Sep 2015
Location Tel Aviv
Topics Black and White, Documentary, Environment, Personal, Photojournalism, Street
Here, where some amazing paintings were born, where the colorful houses with quaint balconies made of old-stone red bricks, where constantly work is boiling in the workshops. You can hardly find such a delicate and original women's jewelry, like one in Old Jaffa. These jewelry are in small stores scattered along narrow streets by starting at affordable prices ending with very expensive on public.

Here, where cozy restaurants and cafes guarantee visitors a savory French, Italian and Arabic cuisine, where varnish oysters, mussels or a famous Denis fish in garlic sauce, sitting on the veranda over the sea and admiring the colorful sunset. It is no surprise that Old Jaffa is a favorite place to walk in the afternoon and evenings for tourists and Israelis, both.

The next morning you wake up in a Tel Aviv hotel, and immediately go to the beach. There are colorful paragliders flying in the sky above the horizon, local extreme surfers rush the waves at high velocity. In the breeze of Mediterranean some watercraft motors slip over the horizon. Surfing skills are gained almost from the cradle. Even in the winter season on the streets of the city you can find barefoot kids in rubberized suits with surfboard under his arm. In between sailing ships there are rowing boats and yachts here and there inthe sea.

Some tip for collectors, in second-hand shops of Tel Aviv you can buy rare books published in different languages. However, English and Russian speech sounds are everywhere: from early 90's came more than 50,000 of immigrants from Eastern Europe and USSR. Almost every shop, café and restaurant there is a salesman or a waiter speaking Russian. The local sightseeing buses equipped with russian-speaking guides and almost all the maids in hotels also understand English or Russian.

There are colorful fairs on Tuesdays and Fridays at Nahalat Binyamin boulevard in the center of Tel Aviv. From all directions of Israel come talented and skilled craftsmen, like glass blowers, painters, sculptors, seamstresses. Selection of souvenirs and jewelery is so uniqe making your eyes to diverge, but the main thing here not to buy immediately, you have to bargain first. These days a famous Dizengoff Square turns into a fair too, topped by the quaint fountains. But here local people mostly sell second-hand things, among which can be found antique ones too.

In the heart of trademark center there are Azrieli towers: two skyscrapers, round and triangular, beatifuly blended in with the eclectic city without a break 
landscape. If you're crowded party lover take a tour into the night city life, reminding New York in some moments. The best period to visit Tel-Aviv is spring, May is a period of riotous bloom. At this time, the city is literally immersed in greenery and flowers.


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Tel-Aviv. City with no break.  by Mark Rafaelov
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