Artist Database

Nan Goldin, born in Washington, DC, in 1953, is an acclaimed American photographer and activist celebrated for her raw and intimate portrayal of human experience. She began her career with black-and-white photographs of Boston’s transgender community before gaining prominence for her colour slideshows of New York City’s punk and art scenes. Her iconic series The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (1980 to 86) captures around 700 candid images that explore themes of love, addiction, and loss through vivid snapshots of the lives of her and her friends. Goldin’s work also addresses LGBTQ subcultures, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the opioid epidemic. In 2017, she founded P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) to combat the opioid crisis. Her photography has been exhibited globally, including at the Louvre and the Museum of Modern Art, and is held in collections such as the Art Institute of Chicago, Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC, and the Tate in London.