Jim Goldberg’s innovative and multidisciplinary approach to social documentary makes him a landmark photographer of our times. His work examines the lives of neglected, ignored, or otherwise outside-the-mainstream populations through long-term, in-depth collaborations which investigate the nature of universal myths about class, power, and happiness.

He first explored experimental storytelling with Rich and Poor (1977-85), juxtaposing the residents of welfare hotel rooms with the upper class and their elegantly furnished homes. In Raised by Wolves (1985-95), he worked closely with runaway teenagers in San Francisco and Los Angeles to create a book and exhibition that combined photographs, text, home movie stills, ephemera, drawings, video, sculpture, found objects, light boxes and other 3-D elements. Open See (2003-2010) tells the story of refugees, immigrants, and trafficked individuals journeying from their countries of origin to their new homes in Europe and continues Goldberg’s multi-faceted and multimedia practice by using diverse formats to create a thickly interwoven, expressionistic narrative from many points of view. Candy (2012-2016), layers archival materials, Super 8 film stills, and text from Goldberg’s childhood in New Haven with new photographs of the urban landscape and residents to build a twisting exploration of American notions of aspiration.

A prolific and influential bookmaker, Goldberg’s recent books include Coming and Going (MACK, 2023); Fingerprint (Super Labo, 2021); Ruby Every Fall (Nazraeli Press, 2014); The Last Son (Super Labo, 2016); Raised By Wolves Bootleg (2016); Candy (Yale University Press, 2017); Darrell & Patricia, (Pier 24 Photography, 2018); and Gene (2018).

Goldberg has exhibited internationally, including shows at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; SFMOMA; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Corcoran Gallery of Art; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and the Yale University Art Gallery. His work is also regularly featured in group exhibitions around the world. Public collections including MoMA, SFMOMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Getty, the National Gallery, LACMA, MFA Boston, The High Museum, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Library of Congress, MFA Houston, National Museum of American Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Goldberg has received three National Endowment of the Arts Fellowships in Photography, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Henri Cartier-Bresson Award, and the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, among many other honors and grants.

Goldberg is Professor Emeritus at the California College of the Arts. He is a member of Magnum Photos and is represented by Casemore Gallery in San Francisco.

https://jimgoldberg.com/