N. O. K. -Next Of Kin, examines the ways in which American families memorialize their relatives killed in military conflict. The photographs, spanning 2014-2017, focus on the personal altars and private displays of mementos and objects dedicated to lost soldiers. This response from families must be part of the public discourse on war and its aftermath. N. O. K. Includes two volumes, one featuring photographs and one containing testimonials and essays from Gold Star Families. Inbal Abergil is an internationally exhibited visual artist and an Assistant professor of Photography at Pace University. Fred Ritchin is Dean of the International Center of Photography (ICP) School. In 2017 he received the John Long Ethics Award from the National Press Photographers Association. Carol Becker is a writer and the Dean of Faculty and Professor of the Arts at Columbia University School of the Arts. Maurice Emerson Decaul is a former Marine, is a poet, essayist, and playwright, whose writing has been featured in the New York Times, The Daily Beast, Sierra Magazine, Epiphany and others. Stephen Mayes is the Executive Director of the Tim Hetherington Trust and former VII Photo CEO.
Inbal Abergil is a visual artist and educator, originally from Jerusalem. Her practice investigates the aesthetic and societal norms through conceptions of time, memory and place, specifically in cultures where loss is a substantial part of daily life. Her work addresses the lived experience of conflict and trauma.
Abergil holds an M.F.A. in Visual Art from Columbia University (2011), studied photography at Jerusalem's Hadassah College (2001), and received a B.F.A. with honors from the Midrasha School of Art (2007). Her work has been exhibited internationally in museum and gallery exhibitions, and are held in public and private collections. Abergil has recently shown at Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast, Jeonju Photo Festival, South Korea, Shulamit Gallery Venice-California, Miyako Yoshinaga Gallery New York City among others.
She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Rabenovich Prize from Tel Aviv's Department of Art & Culture (2004), The America-Israel Cultural Foundation Foundation (2002) and the Artis Grant Program(2012). Her series Nothing Left Here But The Hurt has been nominated for the prestigious Prix Pictet Photography Prize (2012). In 2015, Abergil's recent project was selected for fiscal sponsorship with Artspire, a program of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA). Inbal was selected as a 2013 FlaxArt International Artist in Residence, Northern Ireland, and was a recent artist in residence at Baxter St at the Camera Club of New York (2015). In addition to her studio practice, Abergil teaches photography at Columbia University and Pace University.
Fred Ritchin is Dean of the school at ICP. Prior to joining ICP he was co-director of the NYU/Magnum Foundation Photography and Human Rights educational program.
Carol Becker is a writer and Professor of the Arts and Dean of Faculty at Columbia University School of the Arts in New York City.
Stephen Mayes is CEO VII photo, writer and Executive Director at Tim Hetherington Trust.
Maurice Emerson Decaul, a former Marine, is a poet, essayist, and playwright, whose writing has been featured in the New York Times, The Daily Beast, Sierra Magazine, Epiphany, Callaloo, Narrative, The Common and others.
