Another point, I find very intriguing is Goldin notes near the end of her article about woman who are infatuated with drag queens and transexuals but have not yet been deemed into a category. "There is a sense of freedom in having a desire that has never been labelled." I personally, couldn't agree anymore. Humans have become so comfortable with the use of labels that anything that doesn't fall under a stereotype or label is deemed as weird, not normal, and wrong. In my opinion, it would just make more sense if we didn't have these labels. Although now that they exist it would be quite hard to erase them, because our brains are predisposed to them. I hope to see labels of sexuality diminish in my life time though. I don't think we should categorize people as gay, straight, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, drag, or even a woman liking transexuals. If someone is interested in someone for their personality, or whatever reason it may be, shouldn't that out weigh whatever reproductive organs lie in their pants? I think Goldin was beyond her time in understanding and appreciating people for who they are rather than their sexuality. There is a confidence in the way "drag queens" represent themselves that is admirable that Goldin latched onto early. I think her work is pivotal in the sense that she gave them a voice and depicted their stories when it was deemed "wrong" and "weird."
Thursday, April 23, 2015
The Other Side - Nan Goldin - Cat Boyce
Nan Goldin successfully broke the traditions of previous documentary photography by focusing on exploring her own drama through a "tangential autobiography that informed a generation of photographers." Although, I already had a pretty strong background understanding of Goldin's work, it was interesting to hear her notice the shift between her work as she aged, as well as as she went from being an insider to an outsider. After she went to art school to learn more about photography, she said "I went back to photography my old world. But it didn't work; I was an outsider. It was no longer my home." I think it is interesting to understand and push that photographer/subject relationship that she notes here. Obviously an insiders perspective is a lot different than an outsiders, not only because they may have access to certain people at certain times, but because their connection with the individuals are completely enhanced by their actual fostered relationships. I just was working on a piece where I interviewed and photographed individuals from my hometown to see where they are now and question them about their life growing up in Bristol. I think the context of this, and my relationship to the individuals is what made the work possible. I would not have gotten the vulnerable information, personal shots of spaces, and intimate connections that I was able to achieve, if I was an outsider. Granted I may have been able to achieve some of the photographs, depending on the individuals personality and whether or not they are open with me, but that sense of further understanding and relating to the subject made me think parallel to Goldin's work when she was 18 living with the drag queens.
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2 comments:
Cat, a lot of the points that you bring up remind me of Cynthia Melendez's discussion of her work at the MFA Thesis Talks on Wednesday. Her work is very much in the same vein of Goldin's as it pertains to relationships and identity. Specifically, I am reminded of Cynthia's work in your post when you write about the difference between the insider & outsider perspectives in both your and Goldin's work; as an MFA student hailing from Peru, Cynthia uses photography to connect with other immigrants who are dealing with a similar transition into a new culture. Her images are essentially portraits of 'outsiders' of American culture, but similar to Goldin, her body of work portrays a group of people who are basically 'insiders' of the outsider culture in a sense.
Kaitrin Acuna
I quite agree here, with everything you said on relationships. There is a connection that comes across when a photographer has made an effort to approach the situation from more of an insider's perspective, or when they are approaching it from that point already. I really admired your work with your high school graduating class, and I was always endlessly impressed with the kind of quotes you were able to pull from them. They were so personal and memorable, and I wonder how long it would take to get thoughts like that from a stranger. I know the people you interviewed also were not all close friends, and I think it reflects very positively on the kind of person you are, that they trusted you with those sorts of ideas. I also loved what you said about labels and Nan Goldin. This idea of gender as a binary system is increasingly ludicrous anyway...I love the idea of everything as simply human emotion without human labels.
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