THE documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras typically zones in on what she calls "individuals who are confronting abuses of power, particularly in the context of the United States" such as Julian Assange, or Edward Snowden, the subject of her Oscar-winning film Citizenfour. Her new work, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, documenting what some might consider a mere photographer of subcultures, could be seen as a lightweight shift in direction. But even notwithstanding that the film won the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival and is now in line for an Oscar, that would be to underestimate its subject, Nan Goldin, as both an artist and an activist.
Goldin, 69, is one of the great game-changers. Her seminal book and slideshow (her preferred form), The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, was first shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1985. Unlike her predecessor Diane Arbus, Goldin's way of chronicling New York was to turn her camera on her own life, the drag artists, club kids, drug addicts and hustlers who made up her group of friends to show them partying, fighting, breaking up, dreaming, taking drugs and having sex.
Her pictures became the benchmark for the flood of confessional photography that came after. Since she emerged with The Ballad, Goldin's work has been exhibited in galleries from Tate Modern to the Art Institute of Chicago, the Albertina in Vienna and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and she counts Madonna among her fans.
This story is from the February 02, 2023 edition of Evening Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the February 02, 2023 edition of Evening Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Sancho steals the show as Dortmund shock PSG
JADON SANCHO insisted he is not thinking about his future after last night eclipsing Kylian Mbappe to help Borussia Dortmund seize the advantage in their Champions League semi-final.
Title bid is done, says Hayes after Liverpool loss
EMMA HAYES last night conceded Chelsea's WSL title bid \"is done\" after the Blues suffered a dramatic 4-3 defeat at Liverpool.
ANGE: PM STILL FIGHTING TO WIN OVER PLAYERS
SPURS BOSS SAYS MAJORITY’ NEED CONVINCING THAT HIS ATTACKING PHILOSOPHY IS RIGHT WAY FORWARD
Ferrari ready to stake £30m on guru Newey
Link-up with Hamilton is Maranello outfit’s bid to recover glory days
Standard Chartered boosted by 'risk on' clients, says CEO
STANDARD Chartered showed off the benefit of its focus on Asian markets today with a jump in trading income as clients took a more \"risk on\" approach to investing.
Down with the chains and long live independent cafes
PROPER Food, they call it on the noticeboard outside. That is to distinguish the menu from the fake food outlets that have sprung up across the City like Indian balsam or Japanese knotweed on a riverbank.
On Oxford Street I was referred to as the Jew’ since when is this okay?
GIVEN this job evokes a hefty dose of stress, steals too much sleep and facilitates a rather irregular diet - my weekly butter intake must be, what, three blocks? And let's not get into the booze lately, I've been skittish about my health. I'm 34, but my biological age? It must be vampiric.
Whisper it, but Rwanda could work for Sunak
WHEN the government in Dublin admitted this week that migrants are moving to Ireland from Britain because they are fearful of being sent to Rwanda, Rishi Sunak must have been delighted at such an electoral gift.
What it's really like down on Clarkson's farm
Vicky Jessop spent the day talking to Jeremy Clarkson and Kaleb Cooper about chaos, controversy... and why the Diddly Squat farm shop almost landed Clarkson’s girlfriend Lisa Hogan in jail
Big two cast their votes...but don't expect result any time soon
TWO million Londoners were heading to the polls today to elect the next mayor, with Sadiq Khan aiming to secure victory and a third term.