For Lior Keter, every picture comes with a song

"The best compliment is when someone tells you they could hear the music through your images,” the Tel Aviv-based photographer said.

By DAVID BRINN
Updated: MAY 5, 2018 21:57
Photographer Lior Keter in the moment (photo credit: COURTESY ROBIN LOOY)
Photographer Lior Keter in the moment
(photo credit: COURTESY ROBIN LOOY)
With concert prices in Israel making it prohibitive for many music fans to see every artist they would want, Lior Keter has taken on the task of being their eyes in the front row.
Over the last few years, the Tel Aviv-based photographer has shot a who’s who of musical heroes from The Rolling Stones to the Foo Fighters, both in Israel and at some of Europe’s most prestigious festivals.
“After my army service, I took a few photography courses in Tel Aviv, but it wasn’t until 2010 that I really found my passion in photography and that was music,” said Keter, who will be displaying his photographs for the first time next week in a show called “#Moments” at the Kenafayim Arts Center in Jaffa.
“I was always going to shows and concerts since I can remember so it was only natural for me to shoot music.”
Keter’s first professional in-concert assignment was for a Peter Murphy show in Tel Aviv, and he immediately knew that he had found his calling.
“I shot the all show from the crowd not really knowing what I was doing, but the last shot I took really made me fell in love with music photography. It was a close up of Peter with a dark red feather scarf and it wasn’t even that sharp but something in that image got me hooked!”
Although Keter has shot virtually every major act that has come through Israel in recent years, one show particular stands out for him – The Rolling Stones in 2014 at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv.
“I was so nervous that day that I got to the park five hours before the show. We had only the first 2 songs to shoot and my hands were so sweaty,” he said. “These guys are the ultimate rock & roll experience for me and to be one of the few photographers who got to shoot them meant a great deal.”
Keter, whose photographs have appeared extensively in Israeli media including The Jerusalem Post, said that it’s sometimes impossible to plan for a live show because anything can happen.
“It’s on you – the photographer – to catch that moment and make the people who see it feel what you felt when you took that shot.
The best compliment is when someone tells you they could hear the music through your images,” he said.
Keter’s exhibit debuts on May 9 at 8 p.m. and will run until May 25. The Kenafayim Arts Center is located at Hanina Ben Dosa 21 in Tel Aviv-Jaffa.