Echo Waiting (Polk and Sutter) Possibly 1986 - 1994

Jim Goldberg's "Echo Waiting (Polk and Sutter)" captures a moment in time with light and shadow. It is a gelatin silver print, so, you know, old school! I can imagine Goldberg out there on the street, feeling the grit and capturing it all in monochrome. The image shows a close-up of a face in a shop window, with the street and passing figures reflected on the surface of the glass. I bet he was thinking about how reflections can tell stories that straight-on shots just can't. The surface of the photograph has that beautiful silver gelatin glow, and I love how he uses reflection to blend a portrait with a street scene—the figure’s face blurs with the city. I always think about how artists inspire each other, across different mediums and eras. Goldberg is in dialogue with painters, experimenting with light, surface, and gesture, in his own way.