From North to South

As countries around the world were still fighting the pandemic and applying social distancing guidelines, Israel, a small and uniquely diverse country eased restrictions in a short amount of time due to its low mortality and infection rates. In May 2020, after about two months of a strict national lockdown and as stores, schools and national parks began to reopen, I decided to rent a car and take a look at how the country from the northern to southern point has been impacted by this global event. In size, Israel is comparable to the state of New Jersey, it’s possible to drive the length of the entire country in less than five and a half hours. I decided to take the trip slowly over 15 days. I drove through the country, stopped in major cities, swam in rivers, lakes, seas, and hiked national parks, the geographical landscape, and climate changes drastically. From snow-capped mountains to plush green forests teeming with waterfalls to a vast desert with the lowest elevation of land on earth. The society is even richer in diversity, I spoke to various people from different regions, cultures, and religions about this one event that unified the population into a shared experience. Road tripping through such a unique country during an ever-changing stage of a pandemic was an exceptional opportunity to experience and document a rare period of time. After covering 1600km (994 mi), I returned to Tel Aviv where more parks and beaches were reopening, social distancing guidelines were eased. 

This story is one chapter from the pandemic that changed the world. 

Bio

Danielle Amy is an Israeli-American freelance visual storyteller based in NYC and Israel. A graduate of The School of Visual Arts she interned at TIME magazine as a photo editor and photographer during the historic 2016 presidential election. Working both on locations and in studios she has assisted established filmmakers and photographers in pre/post-production as well as on location. After producing and coordinating feature stories at National Geographic Magazine for several years, she embarked on her own path as a freelancer and is currently working as a photographer, photo editor, and producer on personal projects and various assignments. Her photography has been published by The Guardian, National Geographic, and TIME magazine, it was awarded by The American Photography Awards. Danielle is a mentee of the 2021 Women Photograph Mentorship class and alumni of The Eddie Adams XXXIII workshop.