Goldin, Nan. Honeymoon Suite, Berlin. 1994.

selves through which she lived, a version born from a violent event, and visually marked as such.

We understand that the bruising was not always there, it will not always remain, and that it was

put there with intention. This photo is a document of a temporary Her, or another Her, taken by

her (creating a space of “me and not me”). She employs the camera (which is inextricably tied to

her own gaze) to show herself a version of her that she would want to see: a functional Her in a

world meant for her. In Goldin’s photographic world that she has constructed, the bruise is not a

sign of dysfunction, but rather a sign of how she functions perfectly within her reality. Girl,

Departed’s images are emblematic of her reality, which includes a reality where violence is the

answer. To have a bruise on her face means to her that she is in accordance with her learned

13