Pinkey and Tabitha, Room 28, Hotel St. Paul 1987

Jim Goldberg made this photograph, Pinkey and Tabitha, Room 28, Hotel St. Paul, sometime in the late 20th century. The high contrast of the monochrome print shows us every tonal shift and subtle change in texture, like the surface of a drawing. The image is arresting: two figures lounge on a bed in a bare room, one with a cigarette, the other staring off into the middle distance. I can't help but notice the arm that's held aloft, each cut a mark or brushstroke across the skin. The more I look, the more this small gesture seems to contain the whole image. Those marks feel so loaded. There is a raw quality to Goldberg’s work, reminiscent of Diane Arbus, though Goldberg is more overtly political. Like Nan Goldin, he captures the stark realities of human experience with unflinching honesty. This piece rejects easy answers, it embraces the unresolved tensions and messy realities of life, urging us to look closer.