as objects. I am interested in the content.”
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When an image is compositionally unstable, there is
a breakdown of structure, an acknowledged abandonment of rules. This results in the viewer
easily slipping into a transgressive space that brings them closer to the emotional depth, truth,
and reality of Goldin and her life. Goldin disrupts, and departs from the understanding of value
and preciousness of an image by its technical merit; she replaces the technicality with the
intimate. Therefore, she is heightening the experience of relating to her photos. Her photographic
approach heavily shares sentiments with The Slits’ approach to punk-rock music and leads me to
conclude that she is an example of girl rhythm. Between her lived-experiences as a drug addict
and a woman and the fact that her photos depart from the male image, I consider Goldin as Girl,
Departed.
Goldin, Nan. Nan One Month after Being Battered. 1984.
17
Holborn, Mark, and Nan Goldin. "Nan Goldin’s Ballad of Sexual Dependency: Fiction and Metaphor, Summer 1986 " Aperture
Conversations: 1985 to Present (May 1, 2018), 192-197.
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