Facing the Sea Exhibition

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Facing the Sea is a personal and social artistic project, photographed and filmed over the course of 2025 - the result of a collaboration between the non-profit organization HaGal Sheli (My Wave) and artist-photographer Daniel Tchetchik. The organization operates as a unique social, educational and therapeutic framework that transforms the experience of surfing into a space for community building, rehabilitation, and empowerment. For at-risk populations, individuals coping with trauma, and people with special needs, surfing becomes a tool for self-discovery and a means of coping, fostering emotional resilience, connection to inner resources, and a sense of wholeness.

The focal point of this project are HaGal Sheli's participants in the surf therapy program Tools from the Waves - aiming to support children, adolescents, women, and men who have endured the events of October 7 and the ensuing war. The program include evacuees from the Gaza Envelope, soldiers, families who have lost loved ones, families of hostages, and survivors of the Nova and Midburn festivals. Each person photographed carries a personal story of trauma and resilience.

For over a decade, Tchetchik has explored the sea and its surrounding landscapes as a lens through which to examine the fragility, complexity, and strength of human existence. In this project, he studies the reciprocal relationship between the emotional climate and the external environment, combining intimate portraits with expansive landscape photography. Tchetchik’s works, together with video interviews filmed and edited by Oren Yisrael, document the participants’ journey of rehabilitation and renewal: the infinite horizon, moments that take one’s breath away, and encounters with waves that demand movement and presence. The very choice to enter the sea, to face it, and to be moved by its power restores a sense of control, connection, and safety. The body’s presence enables contact with the wound and the possibility of renewal as trauma and loss meet light and hope.

PRINTS

Yuval Sharabi - Facing the Sea by Daniel Tchetchik and HaGal Sheli

Yuval

Kibbutz Be'eri

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Eden - Facing the Sea by Daniel Tchetchik and HaGal Sheli

Eden

Nova Survivor

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Noy and Jacob - Facing the Sea by Daniel Tchetchik and HaGal Sheli

Noy & Jacob

Midburn Survivors

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Noy - Facing the Sea by Daniel Tchetchik and HaGal Sheli

Noy

Midburn Survivor

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Mai - Facing the Sea by Daniel Tchetchik and HaGal Sheli

Mai

Bereaved Sister

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Yonatan

Kibbutz Nir Oz

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Benny

Kibbutz Nir Oz

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Emanuel - Facing the Sea by Daniel Tchetchik and HaGal Sheli

Emanuel

Midburn Survivor

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Zohar

Gaza Envelope

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Netanel - Facing the Sea by Daniel Tchetchik

Netanel

Reservist

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Adva & Ravit

Evacuees

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Keren & Zohar

North Evacuees

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Itai

Reservist

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Lavie

Kibbutz Shlomit

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Carmit

Bereaved Sister

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Lucas

Kibbutz Nir Oz

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Lauren

Ashkelon

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Menny

Nova Survivor

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Facing the Sea #1

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Facing the Sea #2

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Facing the Sea #3

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Facing the Sea #4

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100

Facing the Sea #5

Choose from three sizes — prices include production & shipping:

60×60 cm — $1,700
90×90 cm — $2,600
120×120 cm — $4,100