A new book by Toronto-based photographer Marnie Salsky delves into how Jewish identity 'is shaped, witnessed and archived in the present moment, particularly amid rising antisemitism.' Titled A Peoplehood | Amiut Yehudit, the work is set for release in mid-May, coinciding with Canadian Jewish Heritage Month.
A living texture of Jewish life
Salsky's book combines photographs documenting life in Toronto's Jewish community, press clippings of antisemitic incidents in Canada, and historical pictures of European Jewish life before the Holocaust. 'One of the goals of this book is to show that there's just not one way of being Jewish,' Salsky told the National Post. 'Jewish identity gets projected upon you by those outside of the community as well as various ways within the community.'
The inspiration for the book came when Salsky began restoring photographs of a Jewish community in Poland before the Holocaust. She was struck by the diversity of Jewish life along socioeconomic, religious, and geographic lines. The front cover of her book features the names of various Jewish communities today, including Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Reform, Haredi, Just Jewish, and Reconstructionist.
Beyond headlines and statistics
'I really want this book to be a document that goes beyond the headlines and stats today to create a living texture of what it means to be Jewish; how complex it is. Sadness, joy and resilience,' Salsky explained. She describes the book as a 'poetic or conceptual documentary.' The photos are accompanied by anonymous quotes from Jewish individuals she interviewed, which 'highlight some common themes that are expressed and then, also, voices that dissent from what others are saying.'
One powerful image, rendered in red-and-black, shows a traditional Jewish wedding in Poland, taken before the Holocaust. On the opposite page, a quote from conversations after October 7 reads: 'In the '70s, '80s, '90s, we were people, you know, and now we're Jews again.'
A window into Jewish experience
Salsky hopes the book's intimate portrayal will help outsiders understand what Canadian Jews have experienced since the Hamas attack on October 7, which killed over 1,200 people. 'My ultimate goal is not a book that's to explain or to defend anything. It's really to spotlight Jewish identity. It's nuanced. It's complicated. And I hope it helps people who aren't in the community to think about the impact of hateful rhetoric and to reflect upon what true solidarity looks like,' she said.
Some images in the book were part of a gallery installation in 2021 and featured at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival in 2023. Salsky was in the midst of turning the original images into a book when the October 7 attack occurred, prompting her to expand the project to capture the shifting landscape of Jewish identity.
