Nan Goldin's documentation of empathy and marginalized communities

Nan Goldin Photography

Nan Goldin -- Empathy and Obsession

Nan Goldin is a famous American photographer who was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1953 (Williams 26). From an early age, she demonstrated a passion for photography, often using it in her teens to document the gay and transsexual communities she frequented with friends. Her earliest works are considered provocative, voyeuristic, and controversial and noted for their depiction of sex, desire, obsession and empathy (O'Brien 151). Although her current work is much more subdued (i.e., landscapes, etc.), she still continues to create powerful motifs involving couples, intimacy, addiction, HIV / AIDS, prostitution, and homosexuality.

Goldin attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. There she created The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, arguably her most noteworthy body of work (Danto 33). The 700 image collection set to music presented friends in intimate scenarios in slide show format. It is considered a celebration of alternative lifestyles and sexuality among the then emerging subcultures in New York. Construction of the collection took nearly twenty years and later included photography from her European travels (Perl 31).

Goldin is considered a pioneer of sorts for her attentive documentation of the AIDS epidemic. This work was deeply personal due to her own loss of many friends in the 1990s. She has made noted contributions to real-life depictions of the effect of HIV / AIDS with great emotion, detail and honesty (Rudy 347). This follows along with what Goldin is best known for -- documentation of vulnerable and marginalized people. Her style of photography involves using a very familiar and personal approach to tell the story of minorities, the poor, the dejected, the lonely & broken hearted and those on the outskirts of mainstream society (Williams 26). Empathy and obsession are common themes in her work.

Empathy

To fully understand the empathetic nature of Nan Goldin's work, it is important to define what empathy in photography truly means. Empathy as a technical aspect of photography can be conveyed through various principles of lighting (natural and artificial), shutter speeds, post-exposure editing, and colorization or lack thereof (Kois 52). The most conventional and useful means of conveying empathy in photography involves photographing people in ways that demonstrate an understanding of the genuine, creative, and complex core of who they are (Kois 52). Goldin is considered by many to be an expert talent in this area. She allows the viewer to see the realness of her photo subjects. It is an open invitation into a world foreign to many. Her work stirs emotions and anxieties that helps to pull the viewer in and allows for voyeuristic participation in the story being told.

Goldin knows emotional tension and hardship well. In April 1964, her 18-year-old sister committed suicide by laying over the Union Station railroad tracks (Thomas 74). The then 11-year-old Nan counts it among one of the defining events of her life and admits to never having gotten fully over the incident. Stories in the Washington Post described the anger trapped passengers had because of the delay the suicide caused. In addition, the indifference in Goldin's 1950s, suburban home made her sister's suicide more tragic. Grieving freely was not allowed, and her parents often edited the story of what happened in an attempt to appear normal to neighbors and friends. In an in-depth interview Goldin stated: "Kids threw stones at me and shouted, 'When are you going to kill yourself, like your sister did?'" (O'Brien 151). She also states that her sister's psychiatrist told her that she would also commit suicide one day. "Instead of dying, I began to photograph," (Squiers 16).

Goldin professes that such psychological trials made her want to explore human emotion and empathy, or the lack of it, in times of high stress and tragedy (Williams 26). The death of her sister encouraged her to scratch beneath the surface of grief and pain in the human experience. This manifests itself in her images that show literal bleakness and raw reality. Her work is both frank and intimate, and highlights difficulties. She states:

My work has strong emotional feelings because I live in an intense light. Psychologically I live in enormous intensity, I couldn't make anything that isn't intense because I'm intense. But the empty landscapes are different. I'm much more interested, now, in the internal than the external (Eade 16).

Goldin left home at 14 and moved into a group flat in Boston, attending a conservative high school during the day and immersing herself in the area club scene at night. She is quoted as saying, "I left home at 14 and found my own family" (Ruddy 349). She went on to study photography for three years to effectively learn technique, and in the 1970s and '80s captured drag queens and the Manhattan club-and-drug scene, and subsequently how AIDS shattered those communities. Her work is often classified as one of the best visual diaries of these era -- a collection of more than 400 mostly black and white images.

The Ballad of Sexual Dependency shocked many, including friends. It is reported that they were both stunned and impressed -- surprised at her talent and horrified to learn that their twisted lives were on display (Danto 34). Perhaps Goldin's ability to read between obvious lines and tell the empathetic inside story through images came from her own inner struggles. During the 1980s, she also fought to overcome heroin addiction, abusive relationships, poverty, and severe depression (Parr 32). In 1988, two years after The Ballad was published, she checked into a detox clinic for drugs and alcohol (33).

Her most iconic and studied characterizations include photos of artist Cookie Mueller in her casket, a close friend and longtime subject who died from the AIDs in 1989 (Danto 35). Goldin also features drag queens in full eye makeup and jewels, as well as many self-portraits. Among them are some of her dressed as a dominatrix, having sex with her boyfriend, and showcasing her bruises after enduring one of his beatings. Goldin has always defended the brutal honesty of her work. She states:

I was one of the first people, at least in the Western world, to photograph my entourage and say that it was as valid as photographing any exotic tribe you don't know. We were the world to each other. We were not marginalized people as everyone writes of us: outsiders, drug addicts, prostitutes, transvestites, blah, blah. It was our world (Eade 16).

The traditional definition of empathy is "the imaginative projection of a subjective state into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it" (Kois 53). When applied to Goldin, empathy means that photographs reflect the photographer as well as their personal investment in their subject and the subject matter. She uses raw honesty in her work and serves as a personal mirror, often projecting her own feelings and life condition into the final image. She deals with topics that others wouldn't dare and shows a complete disregard for the camera's presence (Saltz, "Nan Goldin: Chasing a Ghost"). Often, her photo subjects neither notice nor care that someone is documenting their private moments. By capturing truth this way, Goldin is usually able to turn the ugly into the beautiful by showcasing her subject's completely natural and uninhibited nature.

Another means of interjecting empathy into her photography is Goldin's use of black and white, and in more recent work, flash. Many today refer to her consistent use of flash 'Goldin Look' (Perl 36). The technique results in deeper colors and exaggerated natural light shining upon photo subjects. For instance, in Kenny in His Room, a naked young man lying on his bed asleep, is captured via 35mm film and a printing process called cibachrome which prints photographs from slides (Squiers 16). Goldin uses such technique to achieve bright color quality and establish a luminous and more lush and natural image (Parr 33). Even blemishes are readily seen in the subject's face which creates a high level of intimacy for the observer. In short, Goldin works at a very intimate level overall. She feels for and with her subjects and it shows. She states that her camera is an essential part of her everyday life, and describes it as follows:

[It is important] as much as eating, talking and sex. The instant nature of photography, instead of creating distance, is a moment of clarity and emotional connection for me. There is a popular notion that the photographer by nature is a voyeur, the last one invited to the party. But I'm not crashing, this is my party (Eade 16).

Goldin's images attempt to disaffirm loss, but at the same time highlight it (Rudy 380). Decades ago when she unveiled her photography, it was considered appalling. Some critics argue that perhaps she wanted to shock the bourgeois society she ridiculed and scorned, most likely due to her own middle-class, suburban upbringing (376). Eventually, her work would expand to focus more on the subculture and community of outcasts and rebels with which she more closely identified. Her photos are melancholic and speak of loss against a backdrop of normalcy (Raymond "Class Lecture"). She effectively, and empathetically, acknowledges the impact of individual loss on the body and mind.

Obsession

By definition, obsession is a fixation, consuming passion, mania, compulsion, preoccupation, addiction are just some of the synonyms on offer (Parr 32). Obsession and human desire, like empathy, is another common theme used in Goldin's artistry. Much of her work reflects a desire to evolve and transcend one's current state, albeit through escape methods such as drug addiction, sexual relationships, or other forms of self-expression. Goldin is obsessed with the possibility of shaping the self without moral judgment (Danto 35).

Nan Goldin demonstrates an obsession with love and relationships. Two important works help to highlight this in her work. In two pieces affectionately called Nan and Brian in bed, New York City, USA, 1983, Nan depicts both herself and her long-time, abusive lover named Brian (Ruddy 359). They are dark photos, however the glint from Nan's wedding ring can be seen in the details. Brian is naked, sitting upright and smoking beside her in what looks like the light of the setting sun. Upon further inspection of the second image, the observer can notice the angle of Brian's body, which is turned away from her. It seems to indicate indifference. In addition, the true source of light is exposed as being a simple light bulb which is really unsophisticated light for a gifted photographer.

These images expose an obsession with true love, which is often very different from reality. The space and distance between the lovers, the artificiality and illusion of the light, and the body language of both partners offer visual clues about reality (360). The wedding ring she wears hints at the pursuit of idealistic love and an obsession with projecting an image to the world about a couple's desiring of each other. What can also be inferred is sorrow associated with a dying relationship (361). As Brian smokes, Goldin looks hesitant and unsure -- weak and weary. In truth, the relationship between the two was full of conflict and physical abuse. A subsequent photo, Nan One Month after Being Battered, New York City, USA, 1984, shows Goldin beaten wearing bright red lipstick and sporting a black eye (363). This is an example of depictions of obsession so common in Goldin's work.

In a 1997 interview with Michael Eade, Goldin discusses her aim and underlying theories about desire and love affairs (16). She states that her photos are not posed and that her work can best be classified as romantic. She also asserts that her ultimate aim is commentary using cleverness, irony, wit, and unconventional thought. For example, she seems to be obsessed with sexual labels. She considers her work a political discourse regarding ideas about gender. She states:

Of course it has a political agenda, it always has. The agenda is about making what is considered private in a society, public… it's about making it clear that all possibilities of gender and sexuality are legitimate in life, and any choice is as valid as any other…I think there are many genders. I have transsexual friends, pre-op friends, female-to-male transsexual friends, gay friends, bisexual friends. Nobody is supposed to symbolize anything. The work is about what it's about; it's not symbolic (16).

One could also argue that Goldin is obsessed with sex. Intercourse, androgyny, women bathing, naked bodies, exposed breasts and displays of affection are her most common photographic motifs. She is openly bisexual, and many of her photographs have very sensual and sexual undertones. This aspect of her work, however, is deeper than the sex as indicated by Goldin's statement that sex is "a mirror for the soul and thus part of a deeper and more complex relationship, linked to the pains and joys of love and friendship" (Ruddy 348). Her work breaks down personal boundaries allowing the viewer to see rare, intimate moments between lovers and friends, without boxes and labels.

Another area of obsession for Nan Goldin is drug use. At a very early age, she became a heavy drug user and required rehabilitation (Thomas 74). Many of her photos are of people using drugs and ironically are by a person on drugs. It is worth noting however, that despite her own drug invoked state during many of her shoots, she remained very clear in her artistic abilities. Nearly all of her photographs have pristine clarity (Saltz "Chasing a Ghost). She has the uncanny ability to capture all going on around her no matter what her own mental and emotional condition might be.

Goldin is also an artist obsessed with historical reflection. Many of her subjects are photographed repeatedly over time to illustrate their human evolution (Raymond "Class Lecture"). This is particularly true of her photos depicting the HIV / AIDS situation of the 1980s. Goldin has said that her approach involves photographing life from the standpoint of risk and uncontrollable possibilities, which comes from experience (Chrisafis "My Camera Has Saved My Life"). She takes advantage of the immediacy inherent in photography. Viewers are welcomed into moments of utmost intimacy -- lovemaking, hospitalization, violence, addiction and the rollercoaster of human emotions.

In addition, she is obsessed with intimately sharing her own personal history. Her work is an honest diary of her own turbulent life and traumas, as well as her love experiences. She also admits to religiously keeping a personal journal. In a 2011 interview, Goldin states:

I have nothing to do with Nan Goldin. She died about ten years ago… I've had so many changes. Before I was battered and after. Before I was on drugs and after. That's not what I am talking about. I'm talking about this public Nan Goldin; this famous person, this cult figure, has nothing to do with me (O'Brien 151).

Nan focuses on the evolutionary journey of all people, but in particular those on the fringes of society. This is what makes her work memorable and impactful.

Perhaps the most important analysis of Goldin's obsessive expression in her work is her obsession with the truth as a whole. Her preferred settings are the interior spaces that tend to showcase personal dramas. Her collections feature trashy kitchens, unmade beds and crowded bars. She also focuses heavily on the interplay of relationships, showing diverse couples making love or kissing. Her use of color and light are strategic tools for showing honest emotion, and she often infuses addiction, abuse and other extremes in ways that subtly portray them as being somehow chic or stylish. The result is bleakness that creates an empathetic and sad response in the observer. She documents everything as the appearance of essential expressions of self (Danto 34).

Conclusion

Today's audiences are skeptics about nearly everything when it comes to photography. Our digital tools and technological advances make it hard to believe images, and most people don't really care about what is authentic, credible, or artistic (Perl 38). What people care about now are the opinions that surround the work. Today, big controversies still rage about select photographs, especially the sexual ones. Arguments are not about what is seen; rather, where and under what circumstances it should or should not be seen. Nan Goldin garnered attention with her early work because she offended most people's sensibilities regarding what is proper, decent, politically correct and wholesome. Warm and fuzzy is not her photography forte. She is a daring pioneer. In short, the importance of Nan Goldin's artistry is that it attempts to transform the dark into light through brutal honesty.

She carries a sense of authenticity and integrity, no matter how unsettling the depictions of her subjects. Critics have accused her of attempting to glamorize alternate sexual orientations, drug addiction and pornography. However, Goldin's position is that such things do in fact exist and are a part of the rich and complicated human experience (Eade 16). By bringing them to the surface in artistic ways, she seeks to inspire more communication and move the unknown into the realm of familiar for everyday people.

Obsession and empathy are common constructs in Goldin's photography. For her, art and photography are less about the way things look on the surface and more about what is brewing underneath. It's about relationships and feelings. Obsession carries overtones of madness or uncontrollable consciousness. However, in her own way, Goldin challenges us to consider empathy as a sort of madness as well (Squiers 16). Her truth-telling can be manic and agitated. The artist once claimed that every photograph she has taken is so that the person whom she photographs cannot be taken from her the way that her sister Barbara was (Ruddy 355). Art can be therapeutic and so Goldin also aims to instruct. She says "[Art] can reveal. It can help one understand one's self and one's life and the world" (O'Brien 151).

A great way to look at it is through Goldin's own story regarding her first stint in rehab in the 1980s. Upon entering treatment the first thing doctors' did was take away her camera and her copy of The Ballad, saying her images would cause drug and sex urges in the other patients (Ruddy 355). She stated that once she emerged from rehabilitation, she had a new awareness about a lot of things, but mostly about light.

Before that I had lived entirely at night -- inside the dark. For fifteen years I lived literally at night, in the dark. I lived in a dark loft in NYC and only went out at night. Metaphorically and literally I came into the light, and it started to show up profoundly in my work. The work became about stepping out of darkness into light. And it also became clearer, and there was more clarity and subtlety in it (Eade 16).

Nan Goldin creates uncomfortably personal work that shatters traditional notions of fine art photography. To many, she is a defender of the real and the unaltered. Her lectures and classes in Paris and other countries are highly sought after. True to her artistic sensibilities, she openly petitions against photo alterations and enhancements. She is not a fan of Photoshop or other technological advances such as digital cameras, the internet and email (Saltz "Chasing a Ghost"). In a 2008 article in The Guardian, she summed it up perfectly by saying: "I gave a lecture last May, and I asked how many people still think a photograph can be real, and I think five raised their hand. And that's the whole reason I started taking photos: to make a record against revisionism, against any one revising my life or what I saw" (Chrisafis "Class Lecture"). Whether one agrees or disagrees with the subject matter or depictions in her photos, purity is indeed a one word summarization of Nan Goldin's work.