A Diversity of Photo Essays: Glimpses of Life Before COVID by James Golding
What's It About?
A diverse anthology of pre-COVID images captured across the United States that portray a society at work, at play, and in reflection.For more than 30 years, photographer Jim Golding has covered everything from Dallas Cowboys football games to rodeos to news events culminating in contributed photos to a 60 Minutes segment on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attacks.
Now, he is sharing his photographic eye and storytelling bent in a collection of his favorite works entitled A Diversity of Photo Essays: Glimpses of Life Before COVID, an entertaining, poignant and informative work documenting his experiences of people and places around the world. The 615 photographs range from the wonderful to the wacky, parades, portraits, contemplative scenes, the beauty of our cities and landscapes, and lots more in between.
“When COVID hit in early 2020,” writes Golding, “scenes of maskless subjects suddenly were out of place, depicting a bygone era of a society that abruptly hit a brick wall. I leave it to others to depict the crisis and serious consequences of that tragedy.”
“Now that life has returned to ‘somewhat normal,’ scenes such as [the ones in this book] are becoming more commonplace. Most subjects and scenes are spur-of-the-moment, walk-by, drive-by or, in some cases, float-by photo ops.”
In other words, the lens of the photojournalist is on call 24-7.
Diverse Images Capture Society at Work, at Play & in Reflection
The assortment of photographs is wide-ranging. Golding hits locations from, among others, Alaska, Arizona, Boston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver, Ohio, Philadelphia, St. Augustine, New Hampshire and New York, notably iconic sites, historic buildings, and the four seasons of beautiful Central Park. He includes big-city lights and small country roads.
Golding captures musicians, marchers, skaters, ballerinas, mere ponderers, and others pursuing unusual activities or just the mundane. Sometimes posing, sometimes caught candidly.
Each image, or collection of images, is accompanied by captions and backstories. There are planes, trains and birds of flight. Signs from many cities, streets and landmarks. Golding gets around!
While one can feel the passion and joy behind Golding’s work, he doesn’t take himself too seriously. “Many images inspired humorous treatment, even terrible groan-inducing puns (remotely inspired by The Onion and other sources).”
Regardless of the reaction, the idea is to at least prompt one. To this end, Golding’s work is a marvelous success, a diverse (as the title implies) anthology of images that capture a society at work, at play, and in reflection.
“After the era of cheerless anxiety we have endured for the past three years, it’s time for a light-hearted respite.”
This book certainly provides one.
About Jim Golding:
Jim Golding has been active in photography and photojournalism for more than 30 years. Majoring in journalism at Ohio University, a photojournalism course sparked his avid interest, though he took his first pictures at age nine. There followed other photojournalism and general photography training.
He served as public affairs and information officer in the U.S. Air Force, and later as a news reporter, feature writer and editor with daily and weekly newspapers. His photographic activities included sports coverage — ranging from high school football to the Dallas Cowboys and Cotton Bowl College Championship games, and professional rodeo events — to news events of national, state, and local interest, crime, natural disasters such as hurricanes.
In 2021, he contributed photos used in a segment of 60 Minutes relating to the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
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