Joana avec Valérie et Reine dans le Miroir”, 1999- Photography Nan Goldin, via animophotography.blogspot.co.uk
Nan Goldin’s work opened-up what type of photography is considered art. Her contributions to the art of photography, and the art world in general, are considerable for this reason.
Goldin’s work is intensely private, poignant and at times humorous. She has taken what many would consider family snapshots and elevated it to another level, although it is questionable if she set out to do anything more than capture the lives of those who are dear to her. Whether intentional or not, photography has benefited from the path she has forged.
The Style
From The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, 1979-86Photography Nan Goldin, via Pinterest
Nan Goldin’s photography is typified by full frame shots with no cropping. The surroundings of her pictures are nearly as important as the subjects; most shots are taken from several feet away, from an intimate distance and have great depth of field. All of this creates an almost documentary style photo, hyper-realistic and immediate. This is clearly by design.
Nan Goldin is quick to point out that her work is meant to be seen as a visual diary and her attention to detail and surroundings capture her subjects in a specific space and time.
Her Subjects
"Misty in Sheridan Square, NYC”, 1991 - Photography Nan Goldin, via Artsy
Goldin’s subjects are also of great interest. It’s important to note that she doesn’t seek out models to pose for her. Her subjects are her friends and lovers and her pictures are sometimes taken at moments of great intimacy.
She benefits somewhat from having interesting friends. If she were a housewife from Ohio taking pictures of her two kids, her work would surely lose a certain vicarious pleasure that viewers get from viewing the lives of people who are so unique.
Goldin is lauded for focusing her lens on people in the LGBT community, people who have HIV, or people who were taking drugs. Much of her work is sexual in nature.
It is her subjects and what they are doing that made her artwork such a groundbreaking endeavor.
Who Watches the Watchers?
“Misty and Jimmy Paulette in a Taxi”, NYC, 1991 - Photography Nan Goldin, via Wikipedia
That vicarious pleasure is something a viewer must deal with when confronting Goldin’s work. Goldin herself is not a voyeur; she is living within this world and in many cases part of the work indirectly or directly.
However, the viewer is the voyeur in Goldin’s work. Nan Goldin denies this by pointing out that often her subjects are looking straight at the audience, in effect making the viewers the target of voyeurism. In many ways, due to the nature of her work the truth may be that it is Goldin who demonstrates an exhibitionistic tendency by displaying her life for everyone to see.
A Frustrated Filmmaker
“Buzz and Nan at the Afterhours, NYC”, 1980Photography Nan Goldin, via MoMa
Goldin’s work has become so much part of her daily life that her friends see the camera as a natural extension of herself. She describes herself as a “frustrated filmmaker” and that shows in her process.
Goldin takes a great deal of shots then edits what everyone sees. It is this editing process that brings about what the public sees and also creates the question of how she chooses what will be seen. Goldin says that she is not concerned with aesthetic qualities, but obviously picks shots that are aesthetically pleasing and comments on how important color is to her and that only two printers could ever get her prints correct.
While the emotional content of her work is primary, Goldin is also very aware of the aesthetic qualities of her pictures.
Reality TV as an Art Form
“Rise and Monty Kissing, NYC”, 1980Photography Nan Goldin, via MoMa
Nan Goldin has turned a personal obsession into art form. Her early work focused on dependency versus isolation, but has evolved into a complex chronicle of her life through the tales of her adopted family.
While her work could be compared to reality television like “The Real World” or “Survivor”, it’s important to note that there are no pretenses in Goldin’s photos.
What you see is what you get. While there is a certain amount of editing involved, her pictures are not contrived, they are simply a record of what was happening.
There is something deeper involved in Goldin’s work. She says, “My desire is to get at the briefness of mortality.” Given that some of her friends/ subjects have passed on, her work manages to serve as a memorial to the lives that shape her own life.
Goldin remarks, “I always thought if I photographed anyone or anything enough, I would never lose the person, I would never lose the memory, I would never lose the place. But the pictures show me how much I've lost.” This is what ultimately drives her passion and fuels our interest in her work.
All images are copyright by Nan Goldin and used for the purposes of education.