Week 7 - Artist - Nan Goldin & Annie Leibovitz

Nan Goldin

Nan Goldin is a photographer who broke social taboos through her open quest for sexuality, eroticism, and sexual relations. She raised her new issues beyond the traditional conventions of photography, and she is known for long documenting her friends.

Her photos of her Nan capture moments of her human weakness. She was initially drawn to Nan because of her image of a drag queen and her eccentricity, which revealed her eroticism openly. Nudity, sex, homosexuality, and AIDS frequently appear in her photographic art and are the focus of her critics and commentators.

But before such a provocative image, she has a clean eye to capture the sincere moment. In the words of one critic, Nan Goldin is a communicator who conveys things around her as it is. In her photographs, which fully capture her life, people are exposed naked, and their appearance overlaps more closely with me. When I see Nan's photos, the emotion that permeates this is none other than a feeling for a scene from the days I've been through.

The man, who got up from the bed and sat down by the window, lights a cigarette in a habit. Cigarette smoke spreads with each sip and exhalation, and there is no conversation while the smoke fills the space between them. The woman glances at the man's face. The man's fingers' movement, relaxed posture, and even the momentary expression on his face are all familiar. But with the familiarity of a loved one comes a primitive fear. The woman crouching down on her body feels a little cold. The orange sunset quietly surrounds the two of them. The hot sun is setting. Nan Goldin herself grabbed her cable release and took this picture. It is an intimate moment with a lover, captured honestly without false direction. The two had been together for three years, but even in their infinitely close times, there was irresistible loneliness between them. Nan's expression of thirst and fear for men at the same time says it all.

The picture taken from a car covered in cigarette smoke captures a commonly repeated situation without anything special. The anonymity of the usual acts of smoking or drinking beer leaves us the protagonist. Light and darkness, outside and inside, noise and stillness run side by side with the car window as the boundary. I thought of the same destination as my close friends and rode in the same car. For that moment, it seems to be a community of fate. However, each moment of silence creeps in and reminds us that they eventually lead their own lives.

* Using close people, such as friends and lovers, who are related to you as the subject of your photos, you can honestly and boldly show their sexuality, love, and family relationships.

* This is not a dramatic situation or a work that gives a stimulating and provocative feeling, but rather a recording of one's own life as it is, unfolding in his diary.

*The primary photo expression method is to take a lot of snapshots using a strobo.

Annie Leibovitz

Photos of Demi Moore naked and stroking her tummy while pregnant and pictures of John Lennon curled up and lying next to Yoko Ono are some of Annie Leibovitz's signature photos. She has also photographed many famous people in America. It is a photograph that changes the perception that a pregnant body is not shameful but beautiful. The image of a human being conceived a new, noble life through photography makes you feel dignified. The nude photo, which was chosen as the cover photo for Vanity Fair, became a global issue and brought criticism and praise. Taking pictures of a pregnant woman was a refreshing shock in itself. Not only that, but in front of this mysterious and alluring beauty, criticism followed with wonder.

Annie Leibovitz began her career as a press photographer for the Rolling Stones in 1970. From this time, she starts to equip her full-fledged career as a photographer and makes a name for herself. By the way, what made her famous was her picture of her lover, taken on the last day of 1980, five hours before John Lennon's death. When this photo was taken, John Lennon is undressed and squatted next to his wife with her long hair hanging down. John Lennon kissed his wife's cheek, and this photo of Yoko Ono crouching like a fetus draws attention.

Annie Leibovitz is telling her photographic art by adding her flair to her figure and fashion. Now she is expanding the realm of her world of work in her photography and her various fields. Leibovitz's photographs of her work better express her emotions, emphasizing her feelings and details. She also said that her photography style has a unique compositional technique, so she takes original and creative portraits through photography. Her most notable is that Leibovitz created her photographs of her, using dramatic lighting, bold color elements, and unsophisticated and sometimes unique posing techniques.