Fame Cafe, Hollywood
1990, printed 1994
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
sheet: 27.7 × 35.4 cm (10 7/8 × 13 15/16 in.) image: 21.3 × 32.5 cm (8 3/8 × 12 13/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Gift of Betsy Karel)
Accession Number
2015.19.4806
Art Historical Context
Jim Goldberg's *Fame Cafe, Hollywood (1990, printed 1994) is a gelatin silver print that captures the gritty allure of Los Angeles' dream factory. Measuring 27.7 × 35.4 cm, this black-and-white photograph Goldberg's documentary style, renowned for peeling back the glamour of American subcultures to reveal raw human stories. Shot in 1990 amid Hollywood's evolving landscape—post-Reagan era, with fading studio lots and rising indie cinema—the image likely evokes the tension between stardom's promise and everyday reality, hinted at by its evocative title. Gelatin silver printing, a traditional da...
About the Artist
Jim Goldberg
Jim Goldberg, born in 1953 in New Haven, Connecticut, emerged as a pivotal figure in American documentary photography through his immersive, collaborative approach to capturing marginalized lives. He earned a BA in photography from Western Washington University in 1975 before studying at the San Francisco Art Institute under Larry Sultan, a conceptually oriented photographer whose influence shaped...