I am researching Jim Goldberg’s 1995 photobook, Raised by Wolves, a 320-page documentation into the lives of teenage drug addicts living on the streets of California. The books story revolves around the lives of protagonists Tweeky Dave and Echo and their friends. Goldbergs portrayal of youth culture through the documentation of Echo and Daves on again, off again relationship and Daves eventual death is tied together through a variety of media and image-making, including polaroids, film, documents and interviews to create a gritty representation of growing up on the streets. Whilst making his images, he would photograph his subjects and ask them what was missing, or what he could do to improve the photo. Considering himself an outsider to the culture and surroundings, Goldberg let his subjects control the narrative, often letting them draw or write over the photographs once they were developed.

Goldberg made Raised by Wolves as part of a trilogy, which began with his first book Rich and Poor and ended with his most recent project, Candy. He created Raised by Wolves to ‘pull the curtain away’ and talk about the issues of neglect and abuse in troubled youth. There is no specific audience for the book, as it immerses the reader in the story to the point they feel connected with the characters, but it could resonate with those who experienced a similar adolescence. Upon release, book was received with praise for the raw and unfiltered portrayal of life on the streets, and has left a considerable impact on pop and photography culture.

Raised by Wolves got further recognition in 2016 when rapper Kanye West was photographed wearing a replica of the jacket once owned by Dave. Among the many awards and grants received by Goldberg for Raised By Wolves are a Guggenheim Fellowship (1985), two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships (1989, 1990), the Mother Jones Documentary Photography Award (1989), and the Ernst Haas Award for Photography Book of the Year (1995). Goldberg uses a range of different textures and paper throughout the book to provide a better narrative. No two pages are the same, the book features images in both black & white and in colour, along with photographs of legal papers, doctor notes and police fines. When focusing on telling a characters story, he will often feature an image and interview with the subject on a double page spread. Goldberg also takes photos from other media to use in his work, e.g a still of Dave from a talk show he featured on, or a kindergarten photo of Echo when discussing her childhood. Photos from different eras and events in their lives help better the viewers understanding and connects them more with the character. The book itself is in a portraiture format, however features both square and landscape images throughout. It is 4 to 11″ – 13″ tall; 320 pages; (305 x 230 mm). The cover features a silhouette of a girl, with a red background. ‘Raised by Wolves’ is scrawled over the top, written in the same messy handwriting featured throughout the book. The title is taken from a extract of the book, where one of Goldberg’s subjects write ‘Born a wicked child, raised by wolves.’