Playing With Shaving Cream (Ziggy, Dave, and Echo) Possibly 1989 - 1994

Jim Goldberg made this photograph, Playing With Shaving Cream (Ziggy, Dave, and Echo), using photography. The greyscale tones create a scene that is both intimate and unsettling, like a memory half-forgotten. The surface is filled with detail, but the light is such that much of it feels obscured. Look at the way the tones around the TV blend together. The objects in the room appear to almost merge with one another. I'm struck by the way the composition is anchored by the TV set, around which the figures are arranged, like a modern still-life. The room is messy, but the details are rendered with such care. The shaving cream itself could be read as an exercise in mark making, a moment of spontaneous creative expression that cuts through the dreariness of the scene. Goldberg is interested in the process, the way the image unfolds through the chemical processes of development. This photograph reminds me a little of Nan Goldin's work, both artists have a talent for finding beauty in the everyday. Ultimately, this piece is not about answers but about posing questions.