born in Israel, 1983 lives and works in New York

Ido Abramsohn photographs purchased models of figures connected to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israeli soldiers, masked Palestinians, teenagers throwing rocks. The models are produced by Western companies and are designed for people who build dioramas as a hobby and specialize in battleground scenes. The small figures are about 5 centimeters tall, and the photographs enlarge them 30 times. The change in scale blurs their original quality and accentuates their underlying stereotypic portrayal. The readymade dimension in Abramsohn's work is two-fold - the photographed models are an industrial product, and the figures themselves are based on stereotypes of Israeli and Palestinian figures.

Since the models are so small, their designers use distinctive characteristics in order to represent specific types: for example, an Israeli soldier with a yarmulke and a beard, Palestinians throwing stones or with their hands tied, and figures of Arab women who represent the victims. The names that Abramsohn chooses for the photographs are also readymade names - they are the names given by the manufacturers of the models. Most are catalog names, describing the model's function ("Israeli Soldier," "Captive," "Entry Barrier"). Other names reflect a creative effort: For example, "Welcome to Lebanon" is a title the manufacturers gave to an Israeli soldier carrying a wounded comrade.