The estuary of the Alexander Stream, which flows into the Mediterranean, is located between the Beit Yanai and Michmoret beaches. In sightseeing brochures, this estuary is presented as a pastoral and charming natural site. The reality revealed by Padan’s photographs, however, is somewhat different from this idyllic image. In 1995, a special program was established in order to restore the stream’s ecologic balance, and NIS 50 million have already been invested in the area. Yet industrial waste is still dumped into the stream, which is considered to be the most polluted body of water in the entire country. As a result, the water often looks dark in broad daylight; it abounds with poisonous substances, and dead schools of fish appear now and then on its surface.

In these photographs, Padan enlarges various small details and presents them to us as if seen through the lens of a microscope. These blown-up images acquire monumental proportions, while simultaneously magnifying the noxious quality of the water. These dark, mysterious, and menacing images resemble scientific specimens imbued with a sinister, macabre quality. Their negative attributes paradoxically befit a contemporary cabinet of wonders, since they define a collection of exhibits unique in terms of both their beauty and their destructive qualities.

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