RAISED BY WOLVES

Photographer Goldberg (Rich and Poor, 1985, not reviewed) continues his experiment in photo-text montage with this disturbing and vivid depiction of teenage runaways. Goldberg combines interviews with the teenagers (Echo, Tweeky Dave, Cookie, et al.), their families, counselors, cops, and others with the teens' own words in their own handwriting; he juxtaposes raw black-and-white images of daily life in shelters, on the streets, in clinics, and in sleazy hotels with rosy pictures from their childhood, pictures that often disguise the brutality many of these teens experienced at home. Goldberg portrays with shocking candor the varied aspects of the runaways' existence: IV drug use, teen pregnancy, battle scars (such as rotting teeth, lesions, the disfiguring scar that covers Tweeky Dave's stomach, or another boy's vacant eye socket), and death. Ultimately, there seems to be little hope for these kids, although Goldberg does them a great service here by focusing on their plight and giving them voice. The publication of this book will coincide with a traveling exhibition of Goldberg's work, opening in Washington, D.C.