Collection of Photograph by Zvi Orushkes (Oron) – Palestine, 1920s and 1930s

Collection of Photograph by Zvi Orushkes (Oron) – Palestine, 1920s and 1930s
Collection of photographs by Zvi Orushkes (Oron). Palestine, [1920s and 1930s].
Sixteen photographs. Most of them were taken in the 1920s and document new neighborhoods and Kibbutzim and Jewish workers; among them: photographs of workers digging canals in Ein Charod, building terraces in Kiryat Anavim and paving a road in Kefar Yechezkel; photographs of the Borochov neighborhood, Kibbutz Beit Alpha, Degania Alef; and more. Three of the photographs were presumably taken in the 1930s; two of them depict the maternity ward of the Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem and the third depicts an officer of the Mandatory police alongside a Haredi Jew.
Nine of the photographs bear various stamps of the photographer Zvi Orushkes (Oron). The others were also, presumably, taken by him.
The photographer Zvi Oron (1888-1980) was born in Bialystok as Zvi Orushkes. He first studied photography when he worked with his brother-in-law, who owned a photography shop in Warsaw. In 1913 Orushkes decided to move to the USA and started working as a photographer himself. When the USA joined World War I, Orushkes enlisted in the Jewish Battalions and became a soldier of the 39th battalion of the Royal Fusiliers ("The American Battalion"), with which he travelled to Palestine. After his release from the army, he settled in Tel-Aviv and opened his own studio. During this period, he frequently worked for the JNF, documenting the new settlements being established throughout the country. In 1930, he moved to Jerusalem, opening a new studio on Jaffa St. Over the years, Orushkes worked as a press photographer and for the British government of Palestine, which greatly appreciated his works. His thousands of photographs constitute an important historical documentation of most of the years of the British Mandate for Palestine. In 1947, Orushkes suffered from shock subsequent to the bombing of the British federal building close to his studio in Jerusalem and his photographic activity slowed down. In 1958, he donated his photograph collection to the central Zionist Archives.
16 photographs, approx. 11X16 cm. Good condition. Minor blemishes and stains. Brown stripes on verso of most photographs (presumably due to mounting); some of them can be seen on the front of the photographs. Tears to one of the photographs, reinforced with tape. A fold line in one of the photographs.
Literature: "Photographers of Palestine" (Hebrew), by Guy Raz ("HaKibbuyz Hameuchad", 2003), p. 60.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.