CU Boulder hosts renowned photographer Laurence Salzmann as 2018 Bender Scholar

When photographer Laurence Salzmann and anthropologist Ayse Gürsan-Salzmann received an invitation from the Beth Hatfutsot Museum in Tel Aviv and the Quincentennial Foundation of Istanbul to document Jewish monuments in Turkey, a three-month stay became a five-year visit.

From 1984-1989, the Salzmanns photographed and chronicled the lives of Turkey’s Sephardic Jewish community, in their first year alone visiting more than 25 sites where Jews have lived for over 500 years.

Twenty-five years later, on a return trip to Turkey from 2012-2013, the Salzmanns revisited the Jewish communities of Antakaya, Istanbul and Izmir, taking additional photos and videos of Turkish Jewish life.

Salzmann will present two public talks during his residency at the University of Colorado Boulder, April 18-19. And a selection of his photographs will be on display at the Boulder Jewish Community Center through May 18.

In his public lecture, “In Search of Turkey’s Jews,” Laurence Salzmann will explore the Sephardic communities of Turkey, using his extensive collection of photographs and notes about the people the Salzmanns met, places they visited, and lessons they learned along the way.

This lecture will take place Thursday, April 19, at 7 p.m. in the Chancellor’s Silver and Gold Room in the University Club building on the CU Boulder campus, 972 Broadway. This event is free and open to the public. RSVPs appreciated to CUJewishStudies@colorado.edu.

A selection of Salzmann’s photographs from his exhibit, “Turkey’s Jews Revisited (1984-2012),” will be on display at the Boulder Jewish Community Center through May 18, 2018.

Salzmann will lead a walk-through of his exhibition during a lunchtime talk, Thursday, April 19 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Boulder JCC, 6007 Oreg Ave. in Boulder. This event is free and open to the public; lunch will be served. Space is limited. Pre-registration is required to attend (no walk-ins). Please pre-register on the Jewish Studies website.

Laurence Salzmann is a native of Philadelphia who has worked as a photographer and filmmaker since the early 1960s. His projects document the lives of little-known groups in America and abroad. He looks at the lives of people ranging from occupants of single-room occupancy hotels in New York City to transhumant shepherds in Transylvania, residents of a Mexican village, and Philadelphia mummers.

He is the CU Boulder Program in Jewish Studies’ 2018 Annual Sondra and Howard Bender Visiting Scholar. His visit is also part of the Jewish Studies Community Talks Series, made possible in part by a grant from Rose Community Foundation.