Jim Goldberg Quotes

#1. Since 1970, I've been using text and ephemera as well as photographs in order to tell stories of one kind or another. There's a thread that runs through all the work that is to do with bearing witness. The photographs are about asking questions, though, not answering them.

Jim Goldberg

#2. Before I even took pictures I knew that I wanted to have them as hard copy memories.

Jim Goldberg

#3. I have the great privilege of being both witness and storyteller. Intimacy, trust and intuition guide my work.

Jim Goldberg

#4. My only agenda is to bring attention to otherwise ignored and shunned lives.

Jim Goldberg

#5. I mean, they say they've gotta change the street kids' lives. Well, that's true. But you can't take somebody from point A to point Z overnight. You can't make me a fucking suburban teenager now, after what's gone down. It'll never happen.

Jim Goldberg

#6. Dave: 'Will you ever be happy Echo?'
Echo: 'I don't know I haven't tried it yet.'
Dave: 'Let's give it a shot together.'
Echo: 'Let's spread fire instead.

Jim Goldberg

#7. Quit looking for an answer, Jim. There fuckin' ain't one. Fuck yeah, I'm still looking for God's telephone number.

Jim Goldberg

#8. I use my intuition. I tell my students: use your brains, but also use another part of yourself.

Jim Goldberg

#9. [A photograph] is a part of the evidence. I'm not saying it's the truth - it's part of the evidence.

Jim Goldberg

#10. I'm not a politically radical person. In fact, I'm much more interested in being radical aesthetically.

Jim Goldberg

#11. It's always good to find things that you haven't found before.

Jim Goldberg

#12. I show Dave the dummy for my book. He reads every bit of writing, looks at every picture, and asks no questions. When he's done, he wipes his hands on the book.

Jim Goldberg

#13. Every single immigrant is part of a larger history that needs to be communicated in all its ambivalences and complexities.

Jim Goldberg

#14. There are many images which I miss on purpose. I've done too many of them before and photographing them again doesn't change the world, or me.

Jim Goldberg

#15. The photograph is kind of a proof - a proof that I actually met these people, that they actually have lives, and that they're worth considering.

Jim Goldberg