Dave at McDonald's 1989

Jim Goldberg made this gelatin silver print of Dave at McDonald's sometime in the late twentieth century. Look at the way Goldberg captures this moment outside McDonald's, Dave smoking, flanked by his friends. It's grainy, like a memory, and full of attitude. I can imagine Goldberg, hanging out, trying to capture something real about youth culture, maybe a little bit like Nan Goldin, but with a different kind of grit. There's a casualness to the composition, but it's also carefully observed. The light, the textures of the clothing, the way Dave's positioned between his friends—it all feels deliberate. You get the sense that Goldberg is interested in the individual, but also how they're shaped by their environment and relationships. It makes you think about who gets seen and how. It's a reminder that photography, like painting, is a way of looking and asking questions about the world.