The exhibition “Rich and Poor” by American photographer Jim Goldberg opens at Kaunas Photography Gallery on 19th of May at 11 am. On the occaion of the opening of the exhibition Jim Goldberg will give an artist talk at 5:30.
While portraying people in their living environment in San Francisco between 1977 and 1985, Jim Goldberg asked them to write a comment under the image taken by the photographer. This was a completely new method of creating photographic documents of the human condition and had a profound and lasting impact on the development of photography.
The Rich and Poor series is about poverty, inequality and shared human experiences. In it, Goldberg gives equal rights to those he photographs from different walks of life. The portraits of the privileged wealthy, who at the time had access to representative photographs, are collated together with the underprivileged in this series. The opportunity for the subjects to speak about themselves in the first person and reveal how they perceive their situation and see themselves not only creates a visual artistic collaboration, but also offers a personal perspective for observers of the photographs. By incorporating the thoughts of the individuals portrayed into the work, their points of view are expressed, allowing us to subvert our notions of what a photograph can represent, depending not only on the photographer’s perspective. In collaborating with the subjects, these works are more difficult to manipulate than conventional documentary photographs, as the subjects themselves refer to their own states of mind.
The series is a collection of perspectives and stories, revealing the diversity of experiences of both rich and poor. However distant these two worlds may seem from each other, both share the potential for individual suffering, dignity and love. The lives of the poor are portrayed as precarious, while the lives of the wealthy are portrayed as secure to the point of sterility and inertia.
Jim Goldberg is an American artist and photographer, whose work reflects long-term, in-depth collaborations with neglected, ignored, or otherwise outside-the-mainstream populations. He has been exhibiting for over 30 years and his innovative use of image and text make him a landmark photographer of our times. Many private and public collections hold his work, including MoMA, SFMOMA, Whitney, Getty, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago.
The exhibition runs until 10th of July.
The exhibition is a part of “Kaunas 2022″ programme.
The exhibition is supported by “Kaunas 2022″ and Lithuanian Council for Culture.