Baseball Cards Possibly 1991 - 1994

This black and white photograph, Baseball Cards, was made by Jim Goldberg, sometime after 1953. Look at how the baseball cards are arranged, not randomly, but not completely ordered either. It reminds me of how we sort through memories, holding onto some, letting others fade. The material quality of the photograph itself is interesting. Goldberg captures the texture of the concrete wall, making it almost as important as the baseball cards. See how the light catches the edges of the cards, emphasizing their materiality, while the cracked surface underneath gives the image a gritty feel. It’s a kind of layering, like collage, where each element informs the other. The missing cards, those gaps in the grid, are as crucial to the piece as the ones that are there. In this way, Goldberg reminds me of other artists like Christian Boltanski, who use found images and archival materials to explore themes of memory, identity, and loss. Art-making is a conversation across time, a remix of ideas and experiences.