Untitled

Jim Goldberg defines himself as both a witness and a storyteller. Throughout his career, he has used the camera to document difficult social realities, often combining the handwritten texts of his subjects with his images. The resulting portraits reveal deep layers of meaning that go beyond outward appearances and delve into the subjects’ personal fears, aspirations and selfperceptions.
For his series Rich and Poor, which includes this portrait, Goldberg photographed people at both ends of the social spectrum. In this instance, the accompanying texts, written separately by a wealthy husband and wife, suggest not only how they view one another, but also how they perceive their marriage, allowing the viewer to infer the communicative disjuncture that occurs within that relationship.