nangoldinproject - Tumblr blog

[nangoldinproject]

“Misty, Taboo! And Jimmy Pauletter dressing” (NYC, 1991)

Goldin in this photo displays drag queens in a new light. Usually, people don't see the side of drag queens that come before they are dressed up. The picture in the back is interesting, especially when compared to the woman all the way to the right. They look to be making similar faces and it feels like a statement on the ability of drag queens to completely transform themselves from man to woman. Nan Goldin is highlighting that drag queens aren't men despite what might be under the makeup, they are their own gender and should be separate from any gender.

[nangoldinproject]

Background

Nan Goldin grew up in a Boston Suburb called Lexington. She grew up looking to her older sister Barabara who was rebellious and taught Goldin to hate the suburbs and the suffocation as well as expectations that came with suburbia. When Goldin was 11 her sister committed suicide at age 19 and Goldin fell silent. Nan Goldin left home at age 13; after leaving she ended up living in a few foster homes. Before landing at Satya Community School, a school in Lincoln Massachusettes where she found her eye for photography, she was kicked out of a few schools. During this time she was awakened by friends she made there, a prominent figure in her life was David Armstrong, and she was able to start laughing and talking again. She went on to graduate from School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1977-1978. Her early work featured drag queens, as that was the world she had immersed herself in. Goldin had fallen in love with this crowd and didn't see them as men or women but their own gender. Her first show in 1973 primarily featured photos of drag queens and later on developed into documenting a post-punk view of New York City through her eyes after moving there. Goldin's work is a display of her life and the people she surrounded herself with, often it is presented in a slideshow format that was originally a way to entertain her friends and became how she showed her work to all.

[nangoldinproject]

“Joey and Andres in Hotel Askanischer Hof” (Berlin, 1992)

Joey and Andres are two strong competing images of a male form. Joey is a drag queen and showing a feminine side to the stark contrast of Andres who is ultimately what the human mind considers a man to be with his body hair, muscular arms, body structure, and facial features. The two both biologically male, show that it is capable for the male form to take on a female one if they wish and be considered female. In this photo, one could not even tell Joey is a drag queen without prior knowledge. Like in many photos showcasing Joey, I believe this photo displays beauty in a community that is not normally seen as beautiful by outsiders.

[nangoldinproject]

“Siobhan in my Mirror” (Berlin, 1992)

“Joey in my Mirror” (Berlin, 1992)

This photo is another one that breaks typical beauty standards. In contrast to the photo "Joey in my Mirror" which has a very feminine drag queen as a subject, "Siobhan in my Mirror" displays a woman dressed more like a man. These images together hold a lot of power. Both being that society's standards of beauty and acceptability are to be broken and a new form of genders to be accepted. Feminity or masculinity have different forms, other than what might be considered normal in the eye's of society, that can be displayed through various presentations, and all of those forms are valid.

[nangoldinproject]

Synthesis

Goldin’s photos reflect many different subjects throughout her work. Perhaps the most prominent subject of her work being the LGBTQ+ community. In her life Goldin found herself immersed in this world of transgender people and drag queens that she felt the most connected with and called home. The woman’s work reflected her life and what she was experiencing at the moment. With her focus on the LGBTQ+ community came many different kinds of faces that can be seen in her work. The people that would be considered abnormal or the people that did not look like what society preferred are seen in her work, along with another subject in Goldin’s photos being drug and alcohol abuse. Some of her photos displayed drug addicts, people smoking, friends drinking alcohol. Nan Goldin’s photos display a slice of life that often people do not want to acknowledge exists because it is not their lifestyle or necessarily an attractive lifestyle unless you are existing in it.

Different themes can be detected by viewing Nan Goldin’s work. Specifically, in the subject of LGBTQ+ she displays the theme of gender politics in her work, taking what is considered abnormal by most and normalizing it, and making statements on her beliefs of what genders exist or do not. Goldin believed drag queens or transgender people made up a third gender that was completely separate from males or females, and to Goldin this third gender almost seemed better. Another theme in Goldin’s work is sex and intimacy, who these should be shared with and why. Goldin said, "my dream was that you slept with people you liked, and you would not know about their sex until you undressed them." To play on the theme there’s a subtheme of trying to define intimacy and what it means. Goldin displays intimacy as  A theme included is also the theme of community and finding oneself within one. Her photos focus a lot on her friends and those experiences she had being in such a community. There is definitely unity that can be seen, coming together as one in this specific group one finds themselves spending the most time in. Having a community like this can also help with self discovery and I think simply Nan Goldin’s photos in general are a journey of self discovery with their biographical qualities.

Similar to many artists, Nan Goldin had certain points to get across in her photos. One being tolerance and acceptance of the LGBTQ+, specifically the transgender community. Nan Goldin utilizes certain techniques in her style of taking photos. She uses very natural lighting in her photos, claiming to not actually know how to utilize light. An element that is also present especially in The Ballad of Sexual Dependency is photos that are raw and very slice of life. Goldin depicts people as they are without posing them, wanting to capture reality as she sees it. This technique has impactful qualities. It allows Goldin to depict this lifestyle that not many people are apart of. Since not many people are living this lifestyle it allows for them to see it vicariously through the photos and maybe develop an understanding.

[nangoldinproject]

“Joana with Valerie in the Mirror” (Paris, 1999)

This photo has many interesting elements. Mainly the reflection of the Valerie (pictured in the mirror) that looks like it should be the reflection of Joana (pictured in the chair). The two present very different looking women and because of that being involved with the mirror, it almost looks as if Joana is taking on traits of Valerie and inside maybe admirers her. However, the image makes it hard to tell where Valerie is placed. The hand on the leg is reflected and is also interesting because it looks like it's touching Valerie in the photo yet it's actually touching Joana which furthers the idea that Joana admirers Valerie and wishes to be more like her. However, another spin on this could be that everyone associates Joana with Valerie. And because of that, no one can see Joana as her own person even though both women are seen and are different entities. The hand looking like it is touching both women could be a hand holding them both down and tying them to each other because they can't break free.

[nangoldinproject]

“Philippe H. and Suzanne Kissing at Euthanasia” (NYC, 1991)

Without the title, one may think this photo is two males kissing when in reality it is a male and a female. The photograph breaks gender stereotypes in which women are supposed to have long hair and look more feminine.

[nangoldinproject]

Works Cited

O'Hagan, Sean. “Nan Goldin: 'I Wanted to Get High from a Really Early Age'.”  The Guardian, Guardian News and Media Limited, 22 Mar. 2014, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/mar/23/nan-goldin-photographer wanted-get-high-early-age.

Naggar, Carole. "Among Friends." Mother Jones, vol. 17, no. 1, Jan/Feb92, p. 37. EBSCOhost, proxy.sierracollege.edu/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.sierracollege.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=9602261703&site=eds-live.

Neumann, Caryn E. "Nan Goldin." Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2015. EBSCOhost, proxy.sierracollege.edu/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.sierracollege.edu/login.as     px?direct=true&db=ers&AN=89405629&site=eds-live.

SLADE, STEPHANIE. "The Ballad of Sexual Dependency." Reason, vol. 48, no. 9, Feb. 2017, p. 69. EBSCOhost, proxy.sierracollege.edu/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.sierracollege.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=120113979&site=eds-live.

Zimmermann, Mark. author. "Nan Goldin and Lyle Ashton Harris." Performing Arts Journal, no. 1, 1997, p.38. EBSCOhost, proxy.sierracollege.edu/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.sierracollege.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.3245743&site=eds-live.