Facing the Sea is one of Daniel Tchetchik’s most recent body of works, created in collaboration with the Israeli organization HaGal Sheli (My Wave). The series features portraits of individuals directly affected by October 7, each photographed against the infinite horizon of the sea.
Through these intimate encounters, Tchetchik invites viewers to journey from the changing shoreline to the fragile interior landscape of the human spirit. Together, these portraits form a collective image of endurance—a quiet island of strength where the human spirit confronts the tide and the sea becomes a space for reflection, survival, and rebirth.
This series of portraits was presented at the LFJCC in San Diego and Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York in the past months, curated by Manon Slome.
The exhibition displays these intimate portraits together with personal testimonies and interviews by videographer Oren Izre’el.
Through their stories, participants reflect on trauma, loss and resilience, describing how the sea and surfing have become sources of healing and renewal. The sea emerges as a space where pain and darkness can meet movement, light and hope.
Among those featured is Yuval Sharabi, daughter of Yossi Sharabi, who was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri and murdered in Hamas captivity.
The exhibition also includes Lucas Cunio, whose brothers David and Ariel were abducted from their home in Nir Oz and later returned from captivity in Gaza; bereaved siblings Mai and Omri Peled; and Eden Shmuel, a survivor of the Nova music festival massacre.
Shmuel traveled to San Diego and New York to share her personal testimony, recounting the day that changed her life forever. At the exhibition’s opening in San Diego, Eli Sharabi, Yuval’s uncle, saw his niece’s portrait in person for the first time, alongside the stories of others whose families had also been forever changed by October 7.
For more than two decades, the sea has been a recurring theme in Tchetchik’s work. As an artist and photographer he has explored the relationship between human vulnerability and strength through this on-going narrative.
In Facing the Sea, Tchetchik turns his attention to the encounter between the inner worlds of his subjects and the vastness of the sea. His portraits capture both the profound weight of personal experience and the possibility of renewal.
Through this collaboration with HaGal Sheli, which uses surfing to support people facing emotional challenges, the exhibition highlights the sea as both a challenging environment and a space for reflection, connection and recovery.
Together, the portraits and testimonies offer an intimate look at the lives reshaped by October 7, while exploring how the sea can provide a path toward healing and renewed hope.