Sexual Frustration in the Photography of Nan Goldin

Nan Goldin: Punk Expressions

Nan Goldin captures a raw, energetic visual spirit in her photography -- images of individuals outside the mainstream, persons who live in the sub-culture of the modern day world. These people are transsexuals or drug addicts, some of whom are involved in the punk music scene, others of whom are part of the underground by virtue of their "third gender" status, which Goldin applies to them. She does not photograph them as one who is reviled but rather as one who admires them and wants to be around them. Thus, her aesthetic judgments of her subjects are never scathing or attacking: rather, she presents them as they are -- boldly, objectively, almost defiantly, with their poses, attitudes, facial expressions (the eyes staring directly into the camera and hence into the viewer's saying, "Take me as I am" as in Misty and Jimmy Paulette in a Taxi, NYC, 1991), the gestures giving off the expression of intense passion (as in The Hug, NYC, 1980). Misty and Jimmy, for example, directly challenge the viewer by their willingness to meet the camera's gaze unapologetically: the two drag queens in heavy makeup stare directly at the viewer with expressions of daring -- a sentiment that perfectly reflects the punk music scene, with its protest of mainstream mediocrity and status quo existence. In this manner, Goldin's work embodies a certain aspect of the punk movement -- the non-conformist, subversive aspect of the movement that encouraged self-expression and challenged the traditional social order (Manchester).

In one sense, however, Goldin's work is romantic in that it is depicted through a lens of realism that nonetheless captures an aesthetic that is filled with longing, otherness, a desire to understand and be part of something -- a feeling of wanting to be united to the "hard, gem-like flame" of the romantic movement, out of which it could be argued the punk movement emerged in the late 20th century. Yet, Goldin also captures the "sleazy" aspect of the scene, the characteristic of the culture to be shameless, without regret, baring it all, partially clothed, but sloppily so, with undergarments exposed in an aesthetically-challenging way that projects the subject as one who does not care for pretention or the fineries of sophisticated high-life yet who also appreciates the costumes and likes to wear them. Thus, the queens dress up in gaudy makeup and put on gold bras with white-net tops, straps falling down and bra padding exposed over the tip of the bra -- their apathy is registered in their dress, but so too is the contradictory emotion of raw energy and affirmation. The subjects of Goldin's work express these two contradictory impulses -- the ennui and the absolute determination to exist -- and that is what also makes them very "punk" in a sense: they are complex, not merely superficial ornaments of pop culture; they are sub-culture, complete with identity discourses and activities that project an interior life. The subjects are never condemned: rather are they celebrated in a "punk rock" sort of way -- projected into the public domain for the world to see and acknowledge -- the "other" society that the "acceptable" world of manners and polite society attempts to ignore (Manchester).

In this sense, the mood is also one of nihilism and critical alienation. In the expressions of Misty and Jimmy, for instance, is a look of utter indifference to the concerns of the world: they are simply moving through it. Likewise in the image of "Nan and Brian in Bed" (1981) from The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (1986), whose title is taken from Brecht's Three-penny Opera, the sense of nihilism is expressed in the photograph through Nan's collapsed figure on the bed, head on pillow as she frustratingly attempts to gauge the mind of her partner Brian, who, shirt off, smokes a cigarette on the edge of the bed, eyes downcast, face turned away from the viewer, mind lost in its own thoughts, which he cares not to share. The nihilism in the room is palpable. It is a photograph that explores the thought of Kant, when he states that "I had to deny knowledge in order to make room for faith" (96) -- except that in the world presented by Goldin there is no faith, and one is left without knowledge or anything at all to hold onto -- one is simply drifting in a sea of nothingness, and even human sexual connections are unfulfilling and frustrated as the expressions of the subjects show.