Nan Goldin Quotes & Sayings

My work has been about making a record of my life that no one can revise. I photograph myself in times of trouble or change in order to find the ground to stand on in the change. I was coming out of a melancholic phase. This was taken when I was traveling extensively, on the road from hotel to hotel. You get displaced, and then taking self-portraits becomes a way of hanging on to yourself. — Nan Goldin

I used to think that I could never lose anyone if I photographed them enough. In fact, my pictures show me how much I've lost. — Nan Goldin

The complete disregard for the camera's presence indicates its complete saturation in their lives. The subject neither notices nor seems to care that someone has been invited into their private moment. — Nan Goldin

I think the wrong things are kept private — Nan Goldin

I don't even like photography at all. I'm just doing photography until I can do something better. — Nan Goldin

My work is mostly about memory. It is very important to me that everybody that I have been close to in my life I make photographs of them. — Nan Goldin

I just get inspired to take a picture by the beauty and vulnerability of my friends. — Nan Goldin

I always thought if I photographed anyone or anything enough, I would never lose the person, I would never lose the memory, I would never lose the place. But the pictures show me how much I've lost. — Nan Goldin

The camera is as much a part of my everyday life as talking or eating or sex. — Nan Goldin

If I want to take a picture, I take it no matter what. — Nan Goldin

I never read theory. I think that was to my benefit. — Nan Goldin

For me it is not a detachment to take a picture. It's a way of touching somebody - it's a caress ... I think that you can actually give people access to their own soul. — Nan Goldin

My desire is to preserve the sense of people's lives, to endow them with the strength and beauty I see in them. I want the people in my pictures to stare back. — Nan Goldin

Yes, photography saved my life. Every time I go through something scary, traumatic, I survive by taking pictures. — Nan Goldin

A lot of people seem to think that art or photography is about the way things look, or the surface of things. That's not what it's about for me. It's really about relationships and feelings ... it's really hard for me to do commercial work because people kind of want me to do a Nan Goldin. They don't understand that it's not about a style or a look or a setup. It's about emotional obsession and empathy. — Nan Goldin

I knew from a very early age, that what I saw on tv had nothing to do with real life. So I wanted to make a record of real life. That included having a camera with me at all times. — Nan Goldin