Part art and part ethnography, “Draft and Release” explores the Israeli experience of serving in the military and subsequently traveling the world before finally being reabsorbed into civil society. Guided by my own experiences with my long-term Israeli boyfriend, I began to explore this subject matter in the summer of 2008, through the media of photography and audio recorded (and later inscribed) interviews. The first part of my project, “in arms,” takes place in Israel and explores the personal implications of mandatory military service, specifically on romantic relationships and my own in particular. Part two, “retreat,” follows post-service Israelis traveling the world (specifically in South America and Southeast Asia) and trying to find their place in it. For the final segment, “negotiation,” I returned to Israel to investigate the final phase in their transition from teenager to soldier to wanderer to civilian adult.

While these specific transitional phases are in many senses unique to the Israeli experience, this project also paints a broader picture of straddling and eventually crossing the line between youth and adulthood. During this time, we reach a moment filled with endless possibility, but we must ultimately make certain choices, and with each choice we make, those possibilities become more limited. In the end, we must all negotiate to find our own peace and balance in the decisions we make.