Response Paper 1

Nan Goldin

When observing the characteristics of intimate photography, Nan Goldin’s work illuminates the concept.  I found her work to be inspiring after reading about her in The Photograph as Contemporary Art by Charlotte Cotton.  I read that over 30 years she's continued to capture the essence of intimate scenes of the gay and transsexual communities, as well as the intimacy of relationships and lovers. Her work is inspiring because her motif and subject matter captures the behind the scenes of our society.  I want to do this for my first assignment. I want to capture the behind the scenes of what you never see in life and bring forth a sense of truth behind a person.  

In the reading, the author explains the concept of Goldin’s series called The Ballad of Sexual Dependency. She goes on saying how the series “was a personalized contemplation of the nature of subject’s such as sexual relationships, male social isolation, domestic violence and substance abuse (page 3).”   This series goes beyond the ideal imagery and shows the truth summed up for the viewers disposal.  I find it uncomfortable and trashy at times, but its truth and emotion reveals so much from the given scene.

Other Source:

http://www.artnet.com/artists/nan-goldin/