Early Morning, Plummer Park Possibly 1990 - 1994

Jim Goldberg made this photograph, Early Morning, Plummer Park, sometime around the late 20th century. It’s a monochromatic image, a study in gray scales, and Goldberg coaxes so many different tones out of what could easily be just black and white. Look at the boy in the foreground. He's got that cigarette hanging from his mouth, the smoke curling like a thought escaping. The light catches the planes of his face, the freckles popping like stars on his skin. The other kid, half-hidden, emerges from the shadows. I notice how Goldberg uses the darks to frame the light, pushing our eyes where he wants them to go. It's like he’s saying something about what we choose to see, and what we choose to ignore. It reminds me a bit of Robert Frank’s work, this raw, unsentimental look at America. But Goldberg has a tenderness, a vulnerability that shines through. He's not just documenting; he's connecting.