To what extend is autobiography explored in the work of Jim Goldberg and Jo Spence?
‘Since 1970, I’ve been using text and ephemera as well as photographs in order to tell stories of one kind or another. There’s a thread that runs through all the work that is to do with bearing witness. The photographs are about asking questions, though, not answering them.’ – Jim Goldberg. [Jim Goldberg Online] [accessed 29 January 2025]
An autobiography is the story of oneself told by themselves. Autobiographical works can take many forms, from letters, to diaries to self publishing books about yourself. They are not always intended to be published, but sometimes they can answer history, or tell stories of ones who once lived, who did incredible things that went unnoticed. When it comes to autobiography in the forms of art, some artists tend to use their work as an autobiography, This to bring reality what actually goes on in their lives or make themselves more relatable to the one who looks at their work, they humanize themselves in their own creative way. In my area of study I will be focusing on identity, and teenage life, and what it is really like and how it can be seen by everyone else. In a way it is almost like an autobiography but also a biography for all other teenagers who can relate to my photobook. I will be analysing Jim Goldberg and Jo Spence in this essay, they are both photographers that I have looked at for inspiration. They both have an autographical sense to them in their work, Jim Goldberg focuses on others lives but represents his relationship to them through his text, which gives the autobiographical aspect, when Jo Spence uses her photography as a self-representation and self-exploration, which is very autobiographical. I want to analyse both these artists because I find their work not only incredibly touching and amazing, but they also relate to what I am doing and and fit well into autobiography. I will be responding to Jim Goldberg’s and Jo Spence’s work by not only using their images as an inspiration and creative guideline but also writing about the historical, theoretical, and visual cultural relevance to my area of study.
The historical concept of art, is a product of materials, cultural movements, and outcomes. The theoretical concept of art, shows within the philosophies of it that explains what art is, yet like philosophy it also opens even more questions. Art and photography also has lots of cultural relevance. Cultural relevance is taking account of the different cultural backgrounds. Art does this very well. Photography shows cutural relevance with its artists, they go out of their way to make images that can change the view of the world, just by showing all the different cultures. Two artists who show historical concept, theorerical, and cultural relevance, are the ones that I plan to study and write about in this essay, Jim Goldberg, and Jo spence. Jim Goldberg has a historical concept to is work. For example, his work Raised by Wolves is about teenagers who runaway and live on the streets of San Francisco. This has a historical concept as it about what teenagers have gone through, their past, their history and their story, which Goldberg’s gets to explore through photography. Goldberg not only tells history of child welfare and homelessness, but also makes history by talking about it, he shows the world what it is like for some children who dont have an easy life growing up. Jim Goldberg has a theoretical concept in his artwork as well, as he shows documentary work, and storytelling, this makes it theoretical as it plays around with illusions and it’s not meant to be concerned with hypothesis and theories. Now his cultural relevance is again within his book ‘Raised by Wolves’ he shows homelessness and neglect in a different light, as a subject that is overlooked and mistreated by mainstream media. Most people do not want to come to the reality of what it is really like for some children, some people and some cultures. This all relates to my area of study because I will have a historical, theoretical and cultural concepts in my project similarly to how Goldberg presents it his photobook. Jo Spence is the second artist I am studying and analysing in this essay. She also demonstrates historical, theoretical and cultural relevance. Spence shows historical concepts too and presents it through her illness and social class. This is all theoretical, because of the representation of identity she using throughout her work, especially in The Picture of Health. The cultural aspect comes into this as Spence lays out class, gender, and health. Her photography fights against social class “norms.” This also relates to my area of study as I focus on identity, with a touch of gender roles, mainly on women and slightly focusing on social class as a teenager. Just because we are in different classes does not mean that sometimes things going on in our lives cant be similar.
Jim Goldberg is an american photographer, he creates documentary-style photos that explore identity, homelessness, child welfare, and society. He demonstrates this in his photobook Raised by Wolves.’ This is a very impressive and powerful piece of work and I find his work incredibly moving because not only does he tell a relevant story, which took him over eleven years to create, but he adds in his own creative aspect of using written words over his images, explaining children’s stories and using the power of only one little sentence which can tell us everything about an individual in such a moving way. For example, ‘In the transcript Dave admits that he is “making things up” because “It doesn’t hurt as much” (36). Already we know that Tweeky Dave is who he says he is, who the other street children think he is, and not his “real” history.’
Jim Goldberg’s work, looks into autobiography by showing peoples personal narratives, using juxtaposition between photographs with his own handwritten text next to them. The texts represents conversations Goldberg had with his subject when he was photographing them. The combination of images and text tell their stories more in-depth, which makes it more biographical. Goldberg does this by collaborating with his subjects, i.e. the young people he meets on the streets, and this represent the individuals own autobiographies. He explores others autobiography but also his own in the position as the narrator. Goldberg’s work is a complex examination into autobiography, which meandering past the dainty ridges into a casual wind, thus creating a ceaseless discourse between self and society.
Jo Spence is a British photographer, who also explores identity, and her illness and social class. Spence explores autobiography through photographing her own body and life experiences. Her photography is moving and graphic to document her fight against cancer. she takes images of her body at its natural. It’s influential and inspiring as she shows herself in a genuine and vulnerable place. She turns her personal suffering into an journey of self exploration for not only herself but all the other women who look at her work, and are influenced by it, especially in her series of work The Picture of Health. She uses autobiography as the basis from which to consider the complexities of identity, vulnerability, and agency, employing her life truly as the site for challenging larger societal views on health, beauty, and the body, thus rendering her work a deeply personal yet universally relevant investigation of self.
In conclusion, A clear parallel between Jim Goldberg and Jo Spence, is that both the artists engage with autobiography through documentary photography and self-portraiture. Jim Goldberg emphasises others lives, showing marginalised communities whereas Spence used her own body to express the narratives of illness and identity. Her struggle with cancer becomes her own autobiographical experience to contest social expectations of the body and health.
Goldberg and Spence both use photography as a means to confront concepts of identity, self-representations and social norms. Goldberg, for instance allows the stories of his subjects he photographs through texts alongside the images, creating an autobiography of sorts involving their life experiences and his own as the narrator. Spence, centers her own body but also life experience like Goldberg, and creates a personal autobiography. The two artists have worked allowing their own narratives to outline greater social issues.
However, Goldberg uses his photographers voice to tell stories of others. Autobiography becomes a slight biography as Goldberg holds the position of power with his camera that attempts to narrate a visual story, and links this story to his own productive engagement with others. In contrast, Spence is a more direct and stereotypical form of autobiography. She explores her illness and societal expectations by making self portraits of her body and her life. The difference lies in that Spence uses her own body as the central site of storytelling
In summary, Both artists explore autobiography, they demonstrate it in different ways but both very powerful, I plan to have a similar aspect to my final photobook, as I use both these artist as inspiration. I plan on creating an autobiography similar to Jim Goldberg as I will have photos or teenagers an teenage life, and what some teenagers resort to or what we usually do, using ideas from Goldberg, but it will also be similar to Jo Spence because it will be an autobiography on myself as well, because I am also a teenager and I live the same life I am just demonstrating it through other people, yes I don’t do all the same things but as they are my friends and their lives I feel I also relate being part of their lives. Here are some image example to show my similarities.
Bibliography
https://www.britannica.com/art/autobiography-literature
Goldberg, J. [online] https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/jim_goldberg_585733 [accessed 29 January 2025]
