Temporary Marriage Certificate
1987, 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
2015.19.4840
Art Historical Context
Jim Goldberg's *Temporary Marriage Certificate* (1987, printed 1994) is a striking gelatin silver print that captures a document of profound cultural intrigue. Goldberg, a renowned American documentary photographer associated with Magnum Photos, is celebrated for his empathetic, collaborative approach to portraiture. Often blending images with subjects' handwritten texts, his work delves into themes of identity, displacement, and human resilience, as seen in seminal projects like *Rich and Poor* (1977–83). Created during the waning years of the Cold War, this photograph likely draws from Gold...
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...