Analysis Of Jim Goldberg's Rich And Poor

Jim Goldberg’s black and white photography series Rich and Poor investigates the subject of American economic and social wealth disparities. The photographs are of rich and poor people; with the subject’s own handwritten remarks about themselves is revealing in so many ways. I found that the pictures express the dark innermost fears and aspirations of the subjects, where they confront the perceptions and illusions about themselves in a manner so frank that it completely engrosses you and makes for an unsettling yet insightful experience. Goldberg brings forth a complex web of people who are not only from different economic backgrounds but racial, social and environmental. In my opinion, this particular exhibition had an extraordinary take on

The pictures were taken in San Francisco from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s and it proved to be a gripping yet gritty portrayal on an issue that society still faces today. The combination of handwritten inscriptions and black and white photographs, gave it a sense of intimacy; a deeper understanding of the subject’s perspective on himself or herself, hence enabling an interesting dialogue that activates a confrontation between how we see ourselves versus how we actually are. One of the themes I felt throughout my experience with Goldberg’s work was how it captured the harsh social and economic gap in the United States. The fact that the subjects of the photographs are contributing to the overall series is a beautiful way of creating a conversation around the ideas of affluence and community in America. I feel that the unique collaboration between Goldberg and his subjects’ manifest in an active experience that holds the viewer and confronts their own assumptions about class disparities. Goldberg allows his artistic interpretation to be sidelined in order for the subjects’ emphasizes the range of emotions, as some handwritten inscriptions were severely aloof while others showed an astonishing amount of

For instance, one of my favourite photographs at the exhibition was the first one that I encountered where they not only reveal the economic differences but the dreams and hopes of these individuals. On the one side, there is a photograph of Vickie Liguria, a servant, who remarks on her 40 years of serving and how she feels about having talent, yet no opportunities. On the other side is a photograph of her employer Sylvia Stone who states that she used to dream of being a wife and a mother that writes and is glamorous, but she now desires a place in her community. The contrasts of Vickie and Sylvia’s aspirations are telling because one has had a good life that was provided to them through opportunities that lead to economic and social status, yet the other is impaled by the cycle of having no chances to prove herself, thus she forced to do a job that doesn’t reflect who she wants to be. Both women are different racial, economically and socially, yet they feel this strong desire to actualize their dreams, however, only one has the economic and social advance to do so if they so choose. Goldberg presents an interesting dichotomy of the deepening divide between these two classes and throughout the exhibition, I notice the stark directness of the paradoxes matched with the simplicity