Lobby, Shangri-La Hotel 1991

Jim Goldberg made this black and white photograph, “Lobby, Shangri-La Hotel.” It’s a collision of two worlds: an anonymous room, and a list of rules for living there: NO VISITORS. NO LOITERING. NO REFUND. I imagine Goldberg, camera in hand, noticing how those blocky capital letters create such a strong graphic impact, almost like a concrete poem. A visual list-poem with hard edges. It's so interesting how the text anchors the photograph. It's like the artist has trapped a social landscape and a human drama that’s both gritty and vulnerable. The texture of the wall, the grainy shadows, they all contribute to a feeling of transience, of lives lived on the margins. This photo reminds me that art can be found in the most unexpected places, in the overlooked corners of our everyday lives. Goldberg’s eye transforms the mundane into something strangely compelling.