Photographer Brian Hendler Dies at 63

Image by Facebook

By JTA February 24, 2016

Award-winning photographer Brian Hendler, who served for many years as JTA’s staff photographer in Israel, has died.

Hendler, a South African immigrant to Jerusalem, died suddenly on Wednesday at 63, according to The Jerusalem Post, one of the many news outlets for which Hendler worked. The report did not offer any information on cause of death.

Among the news outlets Hendler worked for were The Associated Press, Reuters and National Geographic. He also shot photos for Jewish and Zionist organizations.

During his tenure at JTA in the 2000s, Hendler won at least four first-place awards from the American Jewish Press Association. Among his award-winning shots were photos from Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from Gaza, “Sea of Soldiers” and “Leaving Gaza,” as well as conflict photos from 2004, “Grieving Soldiers in Gaza” and “Fighting the Fence.”

“Brian made aliyah at a young age all on his own, and stuck it out,” a relative in Jerusalem, Yael Newman, told The Jerusalem Post. “He was committed to Israel and Jewish values, and was passionate about his photography.”

Hendler, who was not married and had no children, is survived by his mother and a brother in South Africa, the Post reported.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

This year, we have stood together in strength and sorrow. Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO