Nan Goldin is an American photographer best known for her works giving an intimite portrayal of groups such as Boston's late 1970s and early 1990s post-punk music scene and the members of the newly vibrant gay scene of the same era. Her most famous work is undoubtedly the 1979-1986 collection published as “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency”, notably depicting from an insiders point of view the hard core drug use and the relationships of violent and agreessive couples she surrounded herself by after moving to New York following her graduation. Martin Parr has argued that this was the major boost to the personal snapshot aesthetic of photgraphy that catpulted the genre into public consciousness.
Goldin grew up in middle class Jewish family in suburban Boston in the 1950s and 60s, but her previously peaceful family life was shattered when her older sister commited suicide in 1965 aged 18. Most biographers her later choice of relationships and societal companions on this event to a greater or lesser extent.
Her early work, prior to around 1995, is dominated by hard realities of love, violence, sex and relationships while since that time her work has mellowed and includes subjects like babies, parenthood and family life. Topics that one would not necessarily associate with someone who focused on transexuals and drag queens for her notable works while younger. While attracting ciriticism for her works appearing to glamourise drug taking, she has spoken out against the “heroin chic” since the early 2000s.
This image, possbly one of the tamer ones from her early works, reflects the snapshot style taken with the available light in grungy surrounds that she preferred.
References:
martinparr.com – Official Website
Goldinm, Nan, Costa, Guido et al, "The Devil's Playground", 2008
Coast, Guido, "Nan Goldin", 2010
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