Leigh Orpaz received a Project Grant to develop a body of work that was presented in a solo exhibition at the Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art in 2016 and was curated by Ran Kasmy Ilan. Titled “The Present Continuous”, the exhibition simultaneously addressed the present and the past, and the use of photographic instruments to document the present. Exploring both personal and historical themes, Orpaz’s video and photographs employ archival photography instruments replicated by the artist as well as advanced photography equipment usually reserved for military intelligence work. The exhibition included slides Orpaz’s grandfather bought at a souvenir shop sometime in the 1960s of rockets and astronomical images from the Cold War set in light boxes. The video Thames Town (2015) was screened next to an 8mm film of the Hula Lake from 1955 filmed also by Orpaz’s grandfather. Thames Town, shot via drone, allows the viewer to stroll along a life-size replica of a typical English town, including Tudor style houses, pubs, and an artificial river in Shanghai. This town was a failed experiment; it didn’t manage to attract enough inhabitants and ended up becoming a tourist destination and wedding venue.