Knoll photographer

Wired profiles Jim Golden, a commercial photographer who has a side project producing beautifully lit, wonderful shots of carefully knolled everyday items, from guitars to beach detritus.

The project is a collaboration with stylist Kristin Lane and is an artistic escape from the cutthroat world of commercial photography. “This is a takedown from a tried and true merchandising technique,” says Golden. “It’s a very accessible for the viewer and allows for the combination of all types of different objects in one image.” The photos depict everyday objects, but the variety and volume of items in each print force the viewer to consider the minute differences between the products and the relationships between them.

Though filled with dozens of subjects, each photo has an emotional core—the camping collection was inspired by a plastic flashlight Golden had as a kid and recently rediscovered at a thrift store, while the bright orange and yellow housewares came from Lane’s personal collection.

Despite owning a well-equipped photo studio, Golden didn’t have nearly enough gear for the camera photo. To pull off this shot, Golden and Lane had to become event organizers and librarians—the pair asked the Portland photography community to borrow gear for a day, resulting in donations of 400 pieces of kit that needed to be cataloged and a gathering of photographers that turned Golden’s studio into an impromptu photography convention. “It took Kristin and I 14 hours to lay out and photograph,” he says. “We have both learned a lot about what’s possible and what isn’t, how big these things can be compared to the scale of the items.”