Photographers in Focus: Jim Goldberg
DESIGN→Exploring the intricacies of the American photographer’s practice
through the making of his career-defining monograph,
Coming and Going Photographer Jim Goldberg made his name
engaging with life on the periphery of society, lensing
the class structures, stigmas and heartbreak entwined with 20th Century America.
Capturing the stark divide between 80s San Francisco’s wealthiest residents
and those living in poverty for Rich and Poor (1985),
followed by seminal work Raised by Wolves (1995) – documenting the street kids of California
through photography, fragments of conversations, and intimate scrawlings –
Goldberg is responsible for some of the most powerful documentary photography
of a nation in transition, yet continually bound by its issues.
An autobiographical work which has been decades in the making,
2023 marked the release of Jim Goldberg’s landmark publication Coming and Going.
Turning the camera on his own world, the book offers a vulnerable account of his search
for the elusive universals of experience, expressing the grief following the death of his parents,
the life-altering birth of a child, the heartbreak of divorce,
and the rediscovery of love in a unique photo memoir.
“In this film, we uncover the unique process that has so defined Goldberg's artistic practice,
in which collaged imagery, personal notes, collages, and ephemera come together
to capture the bittersweet realities of an individual life.
”Following Goldberg to Northern Italy for Photographers in Focus,
in an episode commissioned by MACK, we unearth the intricacies of Goldberg's artistic practice, approached through multi-media assemblage.
Documenting his work with the teams at MACK and Longo during the printing and production
of Coming and Going, the film meditates on Goldberg’s influential archive and his personal landscape, honoring a singular career defined by the realities of experience.
This episode was filmed at Longo printers, and was producedin collaboration with Magnum,
working with videographer Michele Foti and editor Roisin McAuley.