Untitled (Mantle) Possibly 1993 - 1994

This is an Untitled photograph – or, as I think of it, a kind of portrait of a family through objects – by Jim Goldberg. Goldberg has a great way of finding intimacy with his subjects, and in this piece, we find him locating a family through their stuff. The surface is rich, with this slightly out-of-focus lens lending the image a dreamy feel. Your eye jumps from the wallpaper to the framed picture hanging above, then meanders down to the mantelpiece to rest on the family photos and mementos arranged there. Each frame holds a story, a moment captured and held onto. There’s a tenderness here, a quiet reverence for the everyday. I’m reminded of the work of Lisette Model, who had a knack for finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. Like Model, Goldberg's photograph revels in the beauty and complexity of human experience, proving that even the simplest arrangements can hold profound meaning.