SHUSTAK, Lawrence N.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Black Jews. First and only edition, number 85 of 150 copies signed by the artist on title page and colophon, additionally inscribed in purple crayon on the final page, "Dec. 22, '62 - for Luchen Gerge [sic], with fond regards, Lawrence N. Shustak"; complete with the xeroxed memo numbered in his hand, stating "further books will never be made from these negatives".This fine series of beautifully toned prints records Rabbi Wentworth A. Matthew's Commandment Keepers, an African-American Jewish community known informally as Harlem's "Ethiopian Hebrews". Born in St Kitts, Matthew (1892-1973) emigrated to the United States in 1913 and, deeply impressed by the Jewish communities he encountered, founded the Commandment Keepers Congregation of the Living God in Harlem. Based on the belief that the Ethiopian people represented one of the lost tribes of Israel, and that the biblical patriarchs were Black, Matthew established a form of worship based quite closely on Jewish law, including strict observance of the rules of Shabbat and Kashrut, but with some concessions to Afro-Caribbean and African American practices. The New Yorker Larry Shustak (1926-2003) is best known for his portraits of jazz musicians, in particular Thelonious Monk, whom Shustak captured in a series of memorable images, including the celebrated photograph of Monk's hands on the keyboard reflected in his shades. In 1973 Shustak moved to Christchurch, New Zealand, and established the Photography Department at the Schoo

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