Jim Goldberg uses the Polaroid I-2 and the physicality of instant photography to build trust with, and capture portraits of, the Augusta (Arkansas) community.

“People don’t want to be photographed all the time. But people want to be seen. People want to be heard.”

Jim Goldberg has been working with experimental storytelling for over 40 years and is known for his innovative use of text and image. For this partnership, Jim extends Polaroid images with text to encapsulate those living in two small Arkansas Delta communities that he sees as a “microcosm of what is going on socially and politically in the rest of the States”.

Since his first visit in 2020, Jim has been returning to this community again and again – often without taking photos at all. He spends his time slowly earning trust and immersing himself in the local culture. Four years later, Jim is still collecting more perspectives that will one day make up a larger body of work.

Polaroid cameras have been a part of Jim’s practice for decades. He believes the medium helps him connect with the people he’s shooting. He gives his subjects their portraits as both a keepsake and a canvas to express themselves. This practice helps each person “become the picture” by bringing these deeply personal quotes to life through text and collage on the portraits themselves.

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