Nan Goldin Reading Notes

1. -What was this artist's intent in chosing the photos/moments she chose to capture?
-Does this artist find or photograph these pictures?
-Are some of them staged or real?

2. -I think the idea of a photographic diary is rather interesting.
0I wonder if she sees someting we don't in the moments she chooses to photograph.
-The pictures are from her life of her and her friends.
-I think it is interesting to see pictures of other people's lives and how they live, although I personally do not like some of her pictures that are in the book. In a way, they are all a more intimate look into the life of her and her friends, but I think some are more taboo than others and don't care to see the more taboo ones. There are some things that happen and that people do that I don't care to see pictures of.
-I do appreciate how she tries to capture the sponaeity of life in her pictures. The pictures I take are often staged or I take multiple shots trying to get the picture just how I'd like it, where as she just shoots it how it is and captures more of the actual moment.
-It would be kind of cool to have someone capturing the events of my life on film that I could look back on, although I wouldn't want it to be so extreme and would like to retain my privacy. I probably wouldn't want to remember all the sad times though.
-I kind of don't/wouldn't feel right looking at some of her pictures. Even though she is choosing to share it, I wouldn't feel right looking at it. I am more conservative.
-It is kind of wierd/interesting that if you were to look at her exhibit, you can kind of see part of a persons life unfold. Almost as if it were a fictional character in a movie, but it's not, it is a real person.
-I like the idea of healing as a topic for artwork in a way, it applies to me although not in the same way.

3. -The artist's intent was to capture the souls of her friends and give back something to them, as well as to document or capture their lives as they were. I think she does a pretty good job of capturing real-life moments.
-The artist does not find these pictures, they are photographs she has actually taken from her own life and the lives of her close friends.
-The photographs are not staged, she took the pictures of actual events happening.

4. -If she did not choose to capture such intimate moments, would her photographs have been as effective at protraying the everyday life of her and her friends?
-How is it that in the spontaneous snapshots, the gesture of a person and their demeanor is more apparent?
-Should anything go in art, or should there be some sort of boundaries?