Israeli photographer Arye Carmon’s stunning color photographs of people and places around the world create connections between seemingly different cultures.

Arye Carmon heads the Israel Democracy Institute, a “think tank” that fosters strategies and solutions to critical policy issues. A photographer for more than forty years, Carmon’s current exhibition exemplifies the relationship between his work at the IDI and his work as an artist. Both endeavors strive to create harmony between disparate ethnic backgrounds, beliefs, world views and political practices. According to Carmon, the parallels in his photography and career give him “a new perspective on what makes us human and new ways to imagine in our collective futures.”

Duke University curator Alex Harris says that Carmon’s works viewed individually are “beautiful compositions” that compare and contrast his subjects in one photograph. Taking them further as a collection, pairing one photograph with another from a different time and place and looking at the subjects through Carmon’s eyes creates a connection between “what might seem radically different cultures and moments by allowing us to see in a way that connects rather than separates these worlds.”