Nan Goldin

Here is one of Nan Goldin's well known self portraits- which is a large colour photograph. The image is extremely intense with the subject staring directly into the lens. The use of colour within this photograph really enhances the mood and tones to the viewer - with the intense red blood in the white of her swollen left eye which mirrors the shade of her lips. She appears well dressed (ignoring her physical damage) - with her dangling earrings and styled hair. The shadows behind her which are really dark were created using an artificial night time light- the dark shadows create a dull, eery mood which echoes the background story of why the image was taken which is marking the end of a abusive long- term relationship.

“Nan One Month after Being Battered (1984) is an iconic image that captures a poignant and painful moment in Goldin’s life. It shows her proud and defiant, after the collapse of an abusive relationship, her discoloured eyes and bruised skin off set by her dark red lipstick as she looks back at the camera with a determined gaze. For Goldin, the risk to her eyesight as a result of the violence was terrifying, as the loss of her sight would have meant the loss of her identity as a photographer.” – Susan Bright

Here is another self-portrait by Nan herself - taken in Boston 1989. In contrast to the above photograph this image symbolises where she began to pull her life back together after years of self-abuse, physical abuse and also witnessing the destruction of her circle of friends through drugs and AIDS related illness. This photograph shows the high point in her life in terms of forgetting the bad times of her past. Through colour I think that the photograph in comparison to the above portrait creates a complete new mood and atmosphere to the viewer- with the use of natural lighting creating a fresh bright mood- which has dramatically changed in terms of the depressive, negative connotations of the above photograph which is actually painful to view.