Jim Golberg: Open See

Source:  The Photographers Gallery

Jim Golberg

Open See

16 October 2009 - 17 January 2010

Open See documents the experiences of people who travel from war torn, socially and economically devastated countries, to make new lives in Europe. They have left often violent, oppressive, poverty-stricken or AIDS ravaged communities, in search of stability and the promise of a better future. Originating from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, these 'new Europeans' have met violence and brutality as well as hope and liberation in their new homes.

Since 2003, Magnum photographer Jim Goldberg (b.1953, USA) has been photographing and collecting stories through a range of media: Polaroids, video, written text, ephemera, large and medium format photographs. The exhibition installation reflects his dynamic approach to documentary through dense displays of images, objects and text.

The Polaroids on show have often been defaced and written on by the people they portray. The words and images combine to tell intimate stories of past and present experiences. Faces and features are sometimes scratched out, coloured in, or marked in some way. Larger-scale colour photographs depicting landscapes from the subjects' countries of origin appear both poetic and dystopic in equal measure. One image shows a young family walking along a sunlit road, while another is of a man standing on a vast rubbish tip holding a dead goat salvaged from the debris.

Part of an ongoing project by Goldberg, Open See confronts us with the realities of migration and the conditions for desiring escape.

The Photographers' Gallery Press Release

Jim Goldberg: Open See

Exhibition dates: 16 October 2009 - 17 January 2010
Press View: 10.00 - 13.00, 15 October 2009
Location: 16 - 18 Ramillies St, W1

Open See will be the first UK solo exhibition for the Magnum photographer Jim Goldberg (USA, b.1953). Begun as a Magnum commission for the Greek Olympiad in the summer of 2004, it documents the experiences of refugee, immigrant and trafficked populations who travel from war torn, socially and economically devastated countries, to make new lives in Europe. Originating from locations as varied as Iraq, Bangladesh, China, Pakistan, Ukraine, The Balkans, Congo, Liberia, Mauritania and India, these 'new Europeans' have left often violent, oppressive, poverty stricken or AIDS ravaged communities, in search of stability and the promise of a better future.

Since 2003, Goldberg has been photographing and collecting stories through a range of formats: Polaroid's, video, written text, ephemera, and large and medium format photographs. The exhibition installation will reflect Goldberg's dynamic approach to the documentary genre through multi-faceted displays of imagery and text. These will include Polaroids, which have been marked, destroyed and written on by the subjects they portray. The words and images combine to tell the intimate and often violent stories of past and present experiences. Faces and features are sometimes scratched out, coloured in, or marked in some way.

Larger scale colour photographs depict landscapes from the subjects' countries of origin, which Goldberg visits after meeting them in their newly adopted countries and having heard their stories. These works reflect Goldberg's interest in the motivations behind migration and the conditions for desiring escape.

Open See continues Goldberg's innovative use of image and text, a signature technique in his work. He began to explore experimental storytelling with the series Rich and Poor (1977 - 1985), which highlighted inequalities within the American class system. In Raised by Wolves (1985 - 1995), he closely documented a group of homeless teenagers in Los Angeles and San Francisco over ten years.

Jim Goldberg became a full member of Magnum Photos in 2006 and is a Professor of Art at the Caliornia College of Arts and Crafts. His work is represented in major private and public collections, including MoMA and Whitney Museum in New York, SF MoMA in San Francisco, and The J.Paul Getty Museum and LACMA in Los Angeles. Goldberg has received many awards and grants including, most recently, the Aftermath Project Award in 2006 and the HCB Award 2007. The HCB Award is made possible by the support of Groupe Wendel. Open See will be published by Steidl in August 2009 and available from The Photographers' Gallery Bookshop.

The Photographers' Gallery is committed to exhibiting photographers whose work has not otherwise been seen in the UK. Jim Goldberg: Open See is a Magnum Photos Touring Exhibition, co-produced by Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation.