Misty and Joey at Hornstrasse
Photograph
1992 (made)
1992 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
'I don't select people in order to photograph them, I photograph directly from my life. These pictures come out of relationships, not observation'. Nan Goldin, The Other Side, Cornerhouse 1993
Nan Goldin began taking photographs in her late teens, creating a visual diary of her life and the lives of her friends. Personal relationships is a running theme in most of Goldin’s work from the past twenty years and many of her published photographs focus on sexual identity. The relationship between the photographer and subject is clear in her photographs; she neither glamorises nor exploits them. Rather, she captures them undertaking ordinary, everday acts, both private and social.
Goldin’s book, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, was one of the most influential series of photographs of the 1980s. It was originally presented as a slide show accompanied by a soundtrack and brought an intimate, even amateur, approach to photography into the arena of contemporary art. It is a pictorial journey, documenting, with total candour, Goldin’s ‘extended family’ of Bohemian friends, drug addicts, transvestites, clubbers and lovers. The images are particularly powerful because of the photographer's involvement with her subjects over a 20 year period.
Goldin’s earliest photographs were taken whilst she was still a student in Boston. She photographed a group of drag queens who grew to become some of her closest friends. Over twenty years later in New York, Goldin revisited the subject and began documenting the lives of a group of transvestites, but this time in colour. This snapshot of drag queen Misty, reveals Goldin’s signature style and informal approach to photography. The casual composition, paired with the use of direct flash creates a powerful image that highlights Goldin’s relationship with her subjects.
Nan Goldin began taking photographs in her late teens, creating a visual diary of her life and the lives of her friends. Personal relationships is a running theme in most of Goldin’s work from the past twenty years and many of her published photographs focus on sexual identity. The relationship between the photographer and subject is clear in her photographs; she neither glamorises nor exploits them. Rather, she captures them undertaking ordinary, everday acts, both private and social.
Goldin’s book, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, was one of the most influential series of photographs of the 1980s. It was originally presented as a slide show accompanied by a soundtrack and brought an intimate, even amateur, approach to photography into the arena of contemporary art. It is a pictorial journey, documenting, with total candour, Goldin’s ‘extended family’ of Bohemian friends, drug addicts, transvestites, clubbers and lovers. The images are particularly powerful because of the photographer's involvement with her subjects over a 20 year period.
Goldin’s earliest photographs were taken whilst she was still a student in Boston. She photographed a group of drag queens who grew to become some of her closest friends. Over twenty years later in New York, Goldin revisited the subject and began documenting the lives of a group of transvestites, but this time in colour. This snapshot of drag queen Misty, reveals Goldin’s signature style and informal approach to photography. The casual composition, paired with the use of direct flash creates a powerful image that highlights Goldin’s relationship with her subjects.
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Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | Misty and Joey at Hornstrasse (assigned by artist) |
Materials and techniques | Dye destruction print on photographic paper |
Brief description | Photograph by Nan Goldin, 'Misty and Joey at Hornstrasse', dye destruction print, printed 1992, published 1996 |
Physical description | A colour photograph depicting the drag queen Misty (Miss Demeanor) and Joey at Hornstrasse, Berlin. Misty, who is visible in the foreground, is wearing a cropped blue wig and black dress. Joey is standing in the doorway and wearing a long blonde wig. |
Dimensions |
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Styles | |
Marks and inscriptions | Signed in black ink on the back 'Nan Goldin'. Inscribed in black ink on the back with title and '6/44' |
Credit line | Copyright Nan Goldin, courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery |
Object history | Nan Goldin’s book The Ballad of Sexual Dependency was one of the most influential series of photographs of the 1980's. It was originally presented as a slide show accompanied by a rock soundtrack and brought an intimate, even amateur, use of photography into the arena of contemporary art. It is a pictorial journey, documenting, with total candour, Goldin’s ‘extended family’ of Bohemian friends, drug addicts, transvestites, clubbers and battered lovers. The images are particularly powerful because of the photographer's involvement with her subjects over a 20 year period. |
Subjects depicted | |
Associations | |
Summary | 'I don't select people in order to photograph them, I photograph directly from my life. These pictures come out of relationships, not observation'. Nan Goldin, The Other Side, Cornerhouse 1993 Nan Goldin began taking photographs in her late teens, creating a visual diary of her life and the lives of her friends. Personal relationships is a running theme in most of Goldin’s work from the past twenty years and many of her published photographs focus on sexual identity. The relationship between the photographer and subject is clear in her photographs; she neither glamorises nor exploits them. Rather, she captures them undertaking ordinary, everday acts, both private and social. Goldin’s book, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, was one of the most influential series of photographs of the 1980s. It was originally presented as a slide show accompanied by a soundtrack and brought an intimate, even amateur, approach to photography into the arena of contemporary art. It is a pictorial journey, documenting, with total candour, Goldin’s ‘extended family’ of Bohemian friends, drug addicts, transvestites, clubbers and lovers. The images are particularly powerful because of the photographer's involvement with her subjects over a 20 year period. Goldin’s earliest photographs were taken whilst she was still a student in Boston. She photographed a group of drag queens who grew to become some of her closest friends. Over twenty years later in New York, Goldin revisited the subject and began documenting the lives of a group of transvestites, but this time in colour. This snapshot of drag queen Misty, reveals Goldin’s signature style and informal approach to photography. The casual composition, paired with the use of direct flash creates a powerful image that highlights Goldin’s relationship with her subjects. |
Bibliographic reference | Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints, Drawings and Paintings Accession Register for 1997 |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.53-1997 |
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Record created | July 25, 2003 |
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