It Clicked!
Come September, David Joseph will
pack up his camera, tripod and
flash. He'll buy a one-way ticket
to Israel and make aliyah.
The 22-year-old South African
native isn't naive to monetary re-
alities. He knows he'll need
shekels to feed himself And he's
well aware of acceptable options
in America: law school, business
school, a high-paying job.
Life for a University of Michi-
gan history major like himself can
be choreographed to nearly guar-
antee long-term success. Mr.
Joseph, however, has something
more maverick in mind.
An avid photographer since age
5, the young entrepreneur plans
to start a business with an old
youth-group buddy, Adi Flesher,
now studying in New York City.
The concept: to contract out their
photography skills and services
to tour groups.
The demand seems obvious,
Mr. Joseph says. All too often,
camera-happy travelers submit
their film for development only to
be disappointed with the final
product.
Mr. Joseph mimics the typical
David Joseph and friend will focus
on people and places in Israel.
tourist's photo-album refrain: prise is to take the burden of
"Well, you can't really see it. But chronicling trips off the shoulders
right here, this blurry part. That's of travelers who'd rather pay at-
me at the Wall."
tention to the sites and each oth-
No more fuzzy photos. No more er. The plan is to shoot photos
hazy memories. The Joseph- depicting trip participants at the
Flesher team wants to enhance Wall, climbing Masada — Wher-
their customers' Israel experience ever they go, Joseph and Flesher
with professional-looking port- will follow.
folios. Neither photographer has
a long vitae, although the former
worked as a photo intern in Ann
Arbor last summer.
Mr. Joseph also has served as
editor in chief of both Prospect,
U-M's literary journal, and Con-
sider, a weekly bi-partisan, is-
sue-oriented literary forum
sponsored by the campus Hillel.
Both young men have lived and
studied in Israel.
Although Zionist idealism mo-
tivates the move, realism has
shaped their plans. The guys
don't have a sales shtick yet and
they're still working on a pay
scale. As for marketing, they
hope to pitch their business to
tour groups, youth groups, com-
munity missions and other or-
ganized excursions.
On a previous trip, David Joseph snapped a
The main goal of their enter- shot of two Israel soldiers.
The pictures can be purchased
in different packages and
arranged according to individual
preference. Mr. Joseph says he
and Mr. Flesher hope to initially
rent studio space where they will
do most of the processing them-
selves for a quick turn-around.
Hillel of Metro Detroit is the
duo's first client. Mr. Joseph
traveled with the Hillel-spon-
sored "Tri Trippin Mission" this
month.
"I thought it was a great way
to provide a photographic record
for the participants," says Miri-
am Starkman, executive direc-
tor of Hillel of Metro Detroit.
Reflecting back on the blur of
spring term — final exams, an
honors thesis and graduation —
Mr. Joseph can't remember ex-
actly how he came up with the
idea to start a photography busi-
0,
ness in Israel.
"It just clicked," he says.
A good thing.
"You can fly to Israel on the >-
wings of idealism," Mr. Joseph
says, "but you can't stay there
on that." ❑
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