Questions of photography as art and/or technology, document, modern object, archival trace etc. will be discussed, together with an introduction to how contemporary debates have shaped the way in which the history of photography is being recast within the broader field of visual culture studies.
Distinctions / Useen elements.
Think of SMWYK as being sketches of what one is thinking - not a finished masterpiece.
Ask what is happenig socially and culturally as the medium developed.
Round 8: Nan Goldin
Examine this multimedia installation segment as part of Nan Goldin’s slide series The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (1985) that contained over 690 photographs played over a curated soundtrack.
ARTIFACT 01 > Faby Lelait. "Nan Goldin "The Ballad of Sexual Dependency(1)" (NYC Moma 03/2009)". YouTube, 16 Apr 2009.
How does the photographic multiple operate here? What is the power of showing photographs in this way?
The multiple can be defined as “…having or involving several parts, elements, or members;” / “…many in number; involving many different people or things” (Oxford). Goldin’s work concentrated on what has become known as the snapshot aesthetic - it’s quick, ephemeral. Can have an emphasis on the grid (as one would see happen with platforms such as Instagram). In some ways there is a reference to the history of cinema.
Goldin released THE BALLAD OF SEXUAL DEPEDANCY in 1985 as a slideshow exhibition with music selected by Goldin. Ideally, the slideshow was always meant to be shown with music. It was released as an artist’s book in 1986. The show is separated into 12 acts, which mimics the idea of acts found in cinema (the cinematic) and the theatre. The multiples shown here are portraits. They reveal vulnerable moments, the lives of outsiders.
SHOW-ME-WHAT-YOU-KNOW IN-CLASS ASSESSMENT #1
Instructions: Please answer each of the following questions in the booklet provided. Feel free to use first-person voice and make sure to write in complete sentences and paragraphs (no point form please).
1) Identify and describe THREE ideas raised in the Susan Sontag reading that stuck with you. Avoid using direct quotations and use your own words to discuss these ideas. This question assesses your understanding of the class reading.
Several ideas raised in the Susan Sontag reading stuck with me. The first idea that stood out for me was how Sontag focussed on defining herself and how she fits into the discourse of photography. She starts by declaring that she is a writer and a filmmaker, and reveals how her discussion of photography is rooted in her interest in it. She also uses a term associated with both photographers as well as other creatives - freelance. She notes how she is an outsider, but one who has closely observed the world of photography for over twenty years. So she has authority rooted in her deep interest, as a junkie who is obsessed with images.
Secondly, I was intrigued by Sontag’s discussion of what photography is. Is it an activity or an art? She examines this question both formally and creatively, and she also examines what arises around the question of the end object itself: the photograph. Sontag also discusses the ubiquitous nature of the medium, even as it stood during the time of her writing this reflection, in the 1970s (and I also found it interesting how Sontag passed away just before the age of social media and the smart devices which have literally put a camera into the hands of anyone connected via a smart device - her ideas in the 1970s definitely apply to the world of photography as it exists today).
Finally, she also discusses the choices that are made in terms of photography existing as a process of creation (both for the photographer capturing / creating an image, and for the viewer who is viewing it).
2) Of the four contemporary artists we have studied to date (Jeff Wall, Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, and Richard Mosse), discuss which artist's work most intrigues and interests you, and why. Make direct reference to the actual works in terms of any element of FORM, CONTENT, or CONTEXT that most captures your attention, for whatever reason. This question asks you to critically reflect on an artist’s practice and approach.
I find that I am attracted to all of the artists, but ultimately I fund Nan Goldin likely speaks to me the most, especially when I consider where my own artistic practice is today. Formally, the immediacy of the snapshot aesthetic stands out very strongly for me. Goldin’s immersion in the cultures she photographed allowed her to capture decisive moments of authentic vulnerability as expressed naturally by her subjects (in some ways, this immersion tied into the authority Sontag discussed having in relation to the worlds she explored in her writing). Tied to the snapshot was an immediacy Goldin loved which simply wasn’t achievable through the use of sets, fancy lighting, and models (as artists like Jeff Wall and Cindy Sherman worked with). For Goldin, there was just her camera (be it a point & shoot or Polaroid, as opposed to an SLR), and whatever caught the attention of her eye in any particular moment. Through this approach, Goldin captured many multiples of various moments that were unfolding within a specific place, at a specific moment in time. These seemingly simple formal choices helped to feed the strength of the content she produced. Quick snapshots of people as they are, not posed or directed, formed the stories that she told of the places she observed: watching, and recording. Watching, and recording. While there was an ubiquity to the photography of her time, it still wasn’t like today where everyone has a camera tied to their hands in the form of a smart device. As such, it allowed Goldin to reveal unseen moments and experiences as she was likely the only one in her underground group brave and bold enough to record what she saw with a camera.
3) Watch the YouTube video where curator Marvin Heiferman (author of Photography Changes Everything) discusses the complexities of studying and understanding photography. Identify THREE ideas he raises that you think are especially significant to today’s core question (What are the tensions around how we categorize photography?). This question evaluates your comprehension of a new idea related to today’s core question.
ARTIFACT 02 > MoMA. “Marvin Heiferman | Seeing Through Photographs.” YouTube, 10 Feb 2016.
Heiferman discusses how we decipher visual imagery very quickly, within seconds, and we can know what a photograph signifies or represents - even if it is blurry. Secondly, he notes that even though we can do this, many do not understand how images work and how we derive meaning from them. We don’t know the language, we don’t always understand the mediums, which he says can be malleable and even philosophical. This idea ties into what Heiferman explains as people not knowing or understanding the history of photography: what has been done before, especially for those using the medium to tell new stories. In the video, Heiferman cites aerial drone photographers not knowing the history of aerial photography. Not knowing what has come before and the choices that have been made previously can result in new work that doesn’t innovate or push boundaries, let alone simply looking at a subject from even a slightly new perspective.
4) Discuss what any ONE of the following artists (Jeff Wall, Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, Richard Mosse, or Susan Sontag) would likely find the most interesting or relevant to their interests of this viral photograph from the 2011 Vancouver Hockey Riot. This question interprets how you have synthesized and understood today’s class discussion.
ARTIFACT 03 > Rich Lam. “Vancouver Riot Kissing Couple.” Getty Images, 2011.
Nan Goldin would clearly love the snapshot aesthetic of the moment - a photographer snapping multiple images of the enormous chaos unfolding all around them, very quickly processing the overall scene, narrowing in on specific moments to record again and again, snapping away, making (taking) hundreds of photos that night. But then, finding this very decisive moment (to borrow from Cartier-Bresson) and finding that it also pushes back at how Sontag described Cartier-Bresson’s view of photography as promoting a “…fast seeing” by producing an image that has depth (both formally and conceptually) something Wall would love as it lets people slow down, and take it in, which Goldin’s work does achieve because of the gritty nature of the subject matter she photographs. And the 2011 riot was a very gritty moment - one that isn’t necessarily experienced by everyone. But it’s also a moment one wouldn’t associate with the chaos that was unfolding: a tender act of love.
GRADE RECEIVED: A (85%)
COMMENTS: Overall, very nicely done - good analysis and comprehension and connection between reflection and content.
ARTIFACT 04 > Steven Lee. “Grade Received.” 2024.
HEADER PHOTO > Goldin, Nan.