Roni Ben Ari was born 1947 in Ramat Gan to Miriam and Abraham Halpern, a textile industrialist (Halpern Textile Industries). She lives in Moshav Netaim, with her husband, Daniel Ben Ari. They have three daughters. Ben Ari is a graduate of the Beit Berl Academic College, the School of Journalism in Tel Aviv, and the College for Geographic Photography.
She worked as a news director and reporter at the Israel Broadcasting Authority, Educational Television, and Channel Two. In recent years she has been working as an independent photographer. Her work has been exhibited in solo and in group exhibitions in Israel and around the world and it can be found in museums as well as in private collections. Among the subjects Ben Ari has investigated is the Israeli heroine.[1] Mira Ben Ari—an exemplary figure who became the symbol of the Women's Corp of the Israel Defense Forces and for women in general—who was killed in the battle of Kibbutz Nitzanim during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The educational and heritage center at the Memorial to the Female Soldier, (located in old Nitzanim), was established in tribute to her spirit and legacy. Ben Ari is a founder and partner in the Bateva School educational program, a growing mainstreaming program that prepares children and youth with complicated learning disabilities for independent integration into society. She is also a shareholder in the Elyakim Ben Ari Company, a civil engineering company that executes national projects in Israel.
Ben Ari uses her photography to document social issues such as aging, homelessness, prostitution, minorities, and ecology. She mainly photographs people, but also their surrounding environment. Before she photographs them, Ben Ari first becomes close to her subjects by living with them. For example, the photographs for her project, Journey in Search of "Țigancă", were taken only after she had been living among the Romani for about a year. She began the project after the death of her mother who was born in Cluj-Napoka, Romania, a city that has historically had a large gypsy minority.[2][3] In the project Till Their Voices Stop, Ben Ari lived in a nursing home. There, she photographed the fragile, elderly residents and recorded their voices, which she developed into in a video installation that was exhibited in the gallery of the College for Geographic Photography.[4]
Photography is often associated with the term "to take" as in "to take a picture." Roni's photography does not take. In Roni's photography, the act of giving is so present that she hears the voices, is aware of the needs, touches the textures and thus brings the viewer closer. We all benefit from this closeness. This closeness is not perceived as an invasion of someone else's territory, but rather as the act of acceptance, of giving.
Black & White magazine, single Image Contest 2018[5][6]
Magnum Photography Awards 2017 – top 7% of all entries, impressive accomplishment Ben Ari receiving from the King of the Roma, Cioaba Dorin, an honorary title "ambassador in Israel for the Romani Community"2017– Hariban Award 2017, Kyoto, Japan[7]
The 5th Edition of the Jacob Riis for documentary Award, 2017[8]
UNESCO Prize for Art and Society, honorable mention, 2017
Worldwide Photograph Gala Awards, first prize, Portrait Photography Category, 2013
China Digital Photography Museum of Lishui, prize for Processed Photograph, 2011
Julia Margaret Cameron Prize, Portrait Photography Category, 2011
UNESCO Humanity Photo Award, 2008
Ziv Prize for Television Journalism, 1988
Ben Ari is the honorary ambassador in Israel for the Romani Community, a title she received personally from the King of the Roma, Dorin Cioabă, following an exhibition of her photographs depicting gypsy daily life[9]
Permanent solo exhibition, Ethiopia Here, The Story of the Ethiopian Community, photos embedded on 12 concrete pillars, Park of the Communities, Petah Tikva
