Nan Goldin appealed to me because of her chaotic style of photography. Her photographs remind me of scenes from the roaring 20’s in America. They look similar to the screen grabs from movies such as The Great Gatsby. Whereas these parties were showing lavish wealth Goldin’s photography portrays a more realistic and relatable side to this party lifestyle. Such as this photograph.
To me this photograph has a euphoric feeling. I was drawn to this image because every subject in the picture has a completely different expression on their face. The sheer joy on the woman in the foregrounds face is a stark contrast to the almost pissed off expression of the woman in the background. It made me question the relationship in which Goldin had with the subjects.
What I had noticed the most when researching Nan Goldins portraits was that the subjects were either enthusiastic and extremely happy within the environment that they were being photographed in. Like the above example of a young woman seen laughing at something perhaps a joke. You can see the sheer joy in her eyes, to me it looks like Goldins caught her mid laugh.
Whereas this portrait is a complete contradiction as to what is going on in the top image. You can see the pain in the women’s eyes and you can visibly see that she has been crying. I think Goldin is such a talented photographer because she is able to convey a wide range of emotions throw her subjects.
Aoife Markey’s Blog 