The journey of Alan Goldberg, ’78, leads to an acclaimed art career.
It’s not every day that you leave behind the world you know and take a leap into something brand new, but for La Salle University graduate Alan Goldberg, ’78, that’s exactly what happened. After graduating from La Salle with a degree in psychology, Goldberg entered the professional world working in corporate and manufacturing, then as a middle school teacher.
Somewhere along the way, Goldberg discovered his true passion—photography and digital art.
Goldberg’s style and process are unique to him. He captures images through photography and turns his photos into beautiful works of digital art. He said that this form of art allows him to express himself in new and unusual ways because he “couldn’t capture the world as [he] saw it as an artist,” but he could as a photographer.
“Some people are realists and others artists,” Goldberg wrote in a 2024 exhibition reflection, and “[my] niche is somewhere in between.”
He started small, capturing the world through his eyes and transforming these images into works of digital art. Goldberg has grown to full-blown artist status since his entry to the art world, exhibiting his work nationally and internationally for the past 10 years. However, his work was not always as acclaimed as it is today.
When Goldberg first ventured into the world of photography, critics told him his photographs were “not as perfect as they should be.” Fellow creators looked down on him for not “going the extra distance” to perfect his shots. Goldberg noted that, “the world itself is not perfect,” and therefore, photography shouldn’t necessarily be either.
After capturing a one-of-a-kind fish eyed image of a beach bike in Ventnor, N.J., Goldberg’s photographer friends encouraged him to enter it in an art contest. When he won first place for “post editing,” his passion for photography and digital art only grew, pushing him to enter his first physical art show in 2014.
Since then, he’s showcased his work all over the world, receiving recognition and praise from the industry. After moving to Boca Raton, Fla., Goldberg was contacted by the Miami Art Week, an annual festival that hosts over 20 art fairs, over 1,200 galleries and thousands of artists, to participate. He has displayed work during the festival for the past three years.
His work was described as “refreshingly unique and beautiful,” during Miami Art Week 2023 by the publisher of Art World News, John Haffey. He has also been credited with having “exceptional artistic vision” by Linda Hofstetter, Head of ARTBOXY Artist Advisors.
Director of World Wide Art Thomas Tunberg, has viewed Goldberg’s art through the years at various shows like Artexpo New York, Red Dot Miami, and Art San Diego. Tunberg commented on Goldberg’s unique style claiming that Goldberg has “developed his own original digital techniques, which I have never seen used by anyone else,” leaving him to wonder, “how does he do that?”
Goldberg said his approach “all starts with exploring the world around [him]” from the micro-world to large landscapes and the people in it. Having a background in Psychology, Goldberg brings a blend of techniques to his art and will often “capture images based on the psychology of how it affects a person of our human collective, a certain commonality” – something he learned from Carl Jung in one of many psychology classes at La Salle.
When Goldberg began his journey as an Explorer studying Psychology, he never thought his career would take him to art festivals all over the country. He said that attending a Catholic University like La Salle as a Jewish student “opened [his] eyes to a much greater world.”
Although he frequently had a camera in hand after graduating from La Salle, it wasn’t until much later that he truly began to see the world through the lens.
Goldberg encourages fellow Explorers to “never stop the thirst to learn or to live life to the fullest” because by the time he graduated, he had “become a lifelong learner.”
Goldberg reminds us that sometimes it’s not even about how you start, but just that you do.
Today, Goldberg has submitted portfolios to be featured in the 2027 Boca Raton Museum of Art show as well as to a gallery in Atlantic City, NJ awaiting approval. Those living in or visiting the Miami, Fla., area during the first week of December can see Goldberg’s work at this year’s Miami Art Week located in the Wynwood Mana section of Miami. To see more work and learn more about the artist, visit his website at https://limitededitionsbyalan.com/.
-Lily Crosley
The post Psychology grad finds new path in the world of photography and digital art appeared first on La Salle University.
0 Commentaires