First Impressions

Upon entering the exhibition the first couple of memorable images mounted on the walls were the self-portrait photograph of Goldin herself, as the victim of domestic abuse after she had been physically beaten. The other image of the two figures Mixy and Jimmy Paulette in the back of a NYC taxi. The heavy drag make-up and direct expressions of the two drag artists is so striking, the bold colours, messy wigs and ripped netting is an iconic image. Goldin captures the drag culture in NYC of the time in all its authenticity – notice how it is daylight in outside, the question I ask is ‘are they heading out? Or haven’t they even gone to bed yet?’

Observations

At the end of the exhibition there was a cinema room with a film reel of the photographic collection in which various soundtracks were applied to each section. A lot of the imagery was brutal, stripped back, authentic and at times difficult to look at. The photos were of friends, people Goldin had encountered, friends growing older, getting married, having children. Throughout the reel you became known to the familiar faces that kept popping up as everyone grew up. You can tell that Goldin really great, strong relationships with these people that she saw as beautiful despite their lack of stereotypical ‘beauty’/society standards of attractiveness. You knew the people captured were comfortable around Goldin as they let her in to their most vulnerable states – drug abuse, trauma, sexual acts, joy, sadness. Yet each character told a story.

Concluding Thoughts

The way Goldin brings attention to the ‘others’, the outsiders, the people that you don’t typically see caught on camera or the things they get up to as it is just so bitterly real life. The moments that no one thinks to grab a camera and take a picture as you wouldn’t think you’d want to be reminded of these moments. Goldin captures the context of the time during the AIDS/HIV epidemic which attributes an element of sadness in the images once you learn that.

I found the images to influence the observation side of my project – as I was watching the photo reel at the exhibition I was making up stories for each personality I saw in my head and giving an explanation. I think the power of an image can spark judgements and ideas differently for every person and so it’s interesting to see how the same thing may be interpreted so many different ways. I’m also interested in how this can start conversations.