Shady Side Academy Middle School welcomed photographer Erez Kaganovitz on Sept. 21 to speak to Molly Braver '94's sixth grade social studies class about his photography blog, Humans of Tel Aviv.

Inspired by the social media phenom Humans of New York, Kagnovitz set out to show the diversity, tolerance, freedom and love that exists in modern-day Israel. He hopes his work dispels myths about Israelis by showing "the real people who live in Israel."

Students listened to a stories about Israeli culture, religion, beliefs, cultural norms vs. cultural freedom, and technological advances (including the invention of the flash drive and the Waze app) while Kagnovitz's corresponding photographs were displayed on the classroom SMART Board. Kagnovitz concluded by sharing the importance of photography and the role it plays in capturing snapshots of different cultures. He said, "I hope that I have inspired people to use photography to tell a meaningful story."

Kagnovitz started the project in 2012 on Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram, and currently has more than 40,000 followers. To view the photographs and to learn more about the Humans of Tel Aviv project, visit humansoftelaviv.co.il.