The idea of this series came to me at the time of the last war in Israel. The siren was howling, I entered the bomb shelter with my son but we did not have time to close the shelter window. We stood at this window when the rocket blew up. It was so close that we felt a blast. I grabbed my son reflexively and protected him with my body. In that moment, the only thing I wanted was to catch the next flight overseas, far away from this place where blast debris fall on the playgrounds. At that very moment I realised that in a few years my own son would be the soldier who would have to protect me with his body, either literally or metaphorically. But what will be different in three or four years? For me, he will still be the child he is now.
Helen Mountaniol is an award-winning independent photographer based in Prague. Helen was born in 1976 in the city of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. She came to Israel in 1990. Galitz Photography School, 2010. In 2011-2012 Helen made a one-year trip around the world. Technion Universety 2015-2016, where she mastered studio and fashion photography.
Awards Exhibition in Avni Institute of Art and Design, 2018
The photography series “Ilya”. Part of charity project “This is me” for Charity Fund "Chance for life” - organization of volunteers supporting severely ill children treated in Israel.
Interview for Israel Plus TV channal, 2018
About photoseries “Ilya” for charity project “This is me”.
Interview for Iland TV channal, 2017
Personal interview in talk show about the photography series “High Risk Classification”.
Exhibition in Bishkek National Art Museum, 2017
The photography series “Time & Silence in Layers”. Collective exhibition.
Exhibition in Ivan Franko National Library of Crimea, 2016
The photography series "Coup d'etat in Colors”. Collective exhibition of IPA and MIFA.
Lucie Awards, Gold, 2016
2016 IPA (International Photography Awards) Lucie Awards. "Coup d'etat in Colors" series. Won Gold in category Editorial: political.
Exhibition in Bishkek National Art Museum, 2016
My photography series “Ala Ket - Take with you” as a part of Too&Cyy exhibition. It explored everyday life of Kyrgyz nomads. Collective exhibition.
Publication in National Geographic, Spain
The photography series “Time & Silence in Layers”.
Exhibition in Somerset House, London, 2016
The photography series “Time & Silence in Layers” which I took in Chernobyl, which was the biggest catastrophe in USSR a nuclear reactor explosion. I explored what happens in the nuclear reactor vicinity 30 years after this event. Collective exhibition.
Shortlisted in Karl Zeiss Awards, 2016
The second place in international photography competition of World Photography Organization
