Show looks at dark side of U.S.

Millions of people came to the U.S. searching for the American Dream, but many, especially blacks, never found it, according to Danish photographer Jocab Holdt. Holdt's American Pictures, a "really powerful" slide show about racism and the lost American Dream, will be shown in Meyerson B1 at 7 p.m. tonight. "He thought America was the land of opportunity but was astonished by what he saw," Beeber said. "Having grown up in a social welfare state, he was amazed by the social evils." Holdt hitchhiked across the country living with complete strangers who became his friends. To buy film, he sold blood twice a week. Thousands of slides will be shown during the three-hour presentation, including pictures of Ku Klux Klan meetings and crack dealers. Beeber said because the show is "so moving," there will be a follow-up workshop lead by Holdt at 9 a.m. Friday in the Castle. "There is always a follow-up because the show is very provocative," Beeber said. Although the show has been presented at the University in the past, tonight's presentation will be special because University students themselves have a chance to become part of a documentary about Holdt. "This is exciting because he [Holdt] is in the process of being filmed for a documentary by a Danish broadcast company," Beeber said. "A Danish film crew will get Penn students' reactions on film." The slide show was shown at the University last April, but few came to see the show because it was shown so close to finals. In addition, tonight's presentation will be special for a Philadelphia woman whose family appears in the slide show. Dorothy McLeary, who attends every presentation of American Pictures shown in Philadelphia, will be at the University for the show. "The show is very good," McLeary said, "The pictures are beautiful, and he [Holdt] explains everything." McLeary said she first met Holdt when he walked into her all-black neighborhood during his journeys across America. "I saw a white man in a black neighborhood, and I wondered what he was there for. Maybe he was from the FBI or something," McLeary said. "And I asked if I could help him." She added that he was looking for her son, who Holdt had met before, so she made him a sandwich and lemonade and waited with him until her son came home. Since their first meeting, McLeary said Holdt has come back to Philadelphia and visited her many times for dinner and overnight visits. "Every time he comes he takes pictures of us," McLeary said. "He is a very nice man." She also said she has gone to Copenhagen to visit Holdt after he invited her. In addition, the University City resident said Holdt's pictures speak the truth about racial problems in America. "Most of it is true, it really is," she said. American Pictures has been shown at over 100 colleges across the country, and is used in many freshman orientation programs and in sociology and American studies courses. A book, based on the show, has also been published and has sold three million copies in America.

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