Nan Goldin and Larry Clark

[hudson]

Anyone else here like Nan Goldin? I really liked her first book. The colors were great and the shots were very intimate. I think she was criticized for starting the whole heroin chic trend in fashion. Her later work didn't inspired me as much.

I also liked Larry Clark's book Tulsa, which was from about the same period. I think what's incredible is he was such a part of a subculture and captures it so well. It's got a very hard vibe of people bored and living on the edge.

Maybe what I respond to in both of these photographers is this was before the explosion in media and celebrity. People were more innocent about posing in front of a camera and not so calculating in appealing to a larger audience.

 

[hudson]

Talking on another thread, I was reminded of Anders Petersen...another photographer who got very close to his subjects.

 

[coigach]

Admire some (but not all) of Nan Goldin, there's are feeling of dispassionate togetherness in much of her work, like she's part of a subculture and documenting it at the same time. Not a great fan of Larry Clark however. He strikes me as 'outside looking in' on his subjects, a bit voyeuristic 'dirty old man' to be honest...

 

[hudson]

Thanks for your reply. I agree with you on Nan Goldin. Not all of her work is good. About Larry Clark, I only know Tulsa and I was under the impression he was very much a part of the scene there. Later on he became a celebrity, so maybe you are referring to his later work? Like Jack Nicholson...loved his early work, but then he became a caricature and I couldn't stand him.

 

[coigach]

Thanks for your reply. I agree with you on Nan Goldin. Not all of her work is good. About Larry Clark, I only know Tulsa and I was under the impression he was very much a part of the scene there. Later on he became a celebrity, so maybe you are referring to his later work? Like Jack Nicholson...loved his early work, but then he became a caricature and I couldn't stand him.

An interesting article on Clark here:
http://www.theguardian.com/artandde...rk-tulsa-teenage-lust-photography-controversy

 

[hudson]

Thanks, reading the article now. Personally, I really like Tulsa. Never saw Kids or any of his movies, but I felt Tulsa was pretty hard hitting.

 

[hudson]

Yeah, I can see how Larry Clark when from "living the life" to being a voyager looking in from the outside...especially how they describe him in Compton making fashion shots of street kids!

Eugene Richards' Cocaine True, Cocaine Blue is another good book about the ravages of drug abuse. Pretty painful stuff, though.

 

[hudson]

Another great book: The Forty-Deuce: The Times Square Photographs of Bill Butterworth, 1983-1984

I grew up in that era, so I can relate. Basically a book of photos of the people that used to mug me!

 

[coigach]

Basically a book of photos of the people that used to mug me!

Ha, that description made me smile...