Face to Face:
Encounters Between Jews & Blacks

ISBN 0-9603924-3-2.
Hard paper cover: $25.00
with FREE SHIPPING


by photographer Laurence Salzmann
with Foreword by William H. Gray, III

View PDF.

Face to Face: Encounters between Jews & Blacks juxtaposes through photographs and quotations how African Americans and Jews view each other, and by so doing reveals much about humor, human interaction, and coexistence in America.

It is hard to overstate the importance of an emotional as well as an intellectual understanding of these intergroup dynamics, if we are, as a nation, to fulfill our promise as "the last best hope of the world."Few works do this important job so well as Face to Face: Encounters between Jews & Blacks.
"The voices in Face to Face: Encounters between Jews & Blacks are as powerful as Laurence Salzmann's images and both demand the attention of anyone interested in Black-Jewish reconciliation."
Letty Cottin Pogrebin
"What a powerful art so necessary for our troubled times. Laurence Salzmann's Face to Face: Encounters Between Jews & Blacks takes us behind the abstractions and generalities to the precious Black and Jewish faces so that we can find our own humanity and let the healing continue."
Cornell West
"...the Salzmann book comes down squarely for dialogue with the sane and moderate elements on both sides. We owe those elements our participation as a voice within American Jewry. It's a risk, but it's a risk that we must take.
Chaim Potok
A study guide, that accompanies the book, is available.

About the Exhibit

Face to Face: Encounters between Jews & Blacks,* a photo-text work by photographer Laurence Salzmann pairs Philadelphia Jews and Blacks and their comments on their special relationship, as they see it, in particular and in general; as it affects them personally and as it shapes the world in which they live. It delineates the different ways that Jews and Blacks see the same problems.

It illuminates the stress lines that tear at the historic alliance and reveals the still strong bonds that keep it politically in place. Jewish and African Americans share a contradictory history, one of cooperation and shared vision, but also one of conflict. Salzmann's work documents the diverse ways these two groups have come and not come together as communities Ņin the schools, in neighborhood organizations, and in social protest. It asks questions about how Jews and Blacks perceive each other today. Although the subjects of these photographs are Philadelphians, the issues raised are universal.

The photographs and the accompanying commentary are beginning to provide a text on some of the most critical issues facing the United States, as we move into the 21st century: assimilation, ethnic identity, and the role racism plays in defining them, the melting pot verses the stew. These photographs aim to create a dialogue between the two groups and an improved renewed understanding of our common goals.

*Parts of the exhibit were first shown a the National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia. During 1996-97, the United Negro College Fund circulated the exhibit to four of their member colleges.

The Face to Face: Encounters between Jews & Blacks exhibit contains 60 framed pieces 16"x16" (40.5cm x40.5cm) with title card and comes ready for immediate installation. The rental fee for this show is $1,200. (for a period of up to 6 weeks) plus $450. for shipping/handling. To book this exhibit contact:

For more information concerning the renting of this exhibit please contact:

Blue Flower Press
3625 Lancaster Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19104


E-mail: LaurenceSalzmann@gmail.com