Nan Goldin’s New Book Documents 30 Years of a Softer Subject: Childhood

The Cow Girl, Providence, RI, 1991. Images are taken from Eden and After by Nan Goldin. Images courtesy Nan Goldin/Phaidon Press Inc.

Mel lying on top of Deborah, Mayreau Island, 2002. Images are taken from Eden and After by Nan Goldin. Images courtesy Nan Goldin/Phaidon Press Inc.

When we think of Nan Goldin, we think of her raw and deeply personal work that continues to have an effect on contemporary photography; we think of her provocative and gritty snapshots from The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, an intimate chronicle of her relationships with friends and lovers on the fringe of society in the 1980s. Now, at 60, Goldin is releasing a new collection of images in her book, Eden and After, with a surprisingly softer subject matter at its core—childhood. In a poignant volume featuring many previously unpublished works, Goldin follows the trajectory of childhood from infancy. Combining over 300 images shot over a period of 30 years from 1977 to 2013, Goldin explores the wonder, mystery, and emotion of being a child. Many of the photos capture her friends with their children over the years.

Eden and After was released by Phaidon in March 2014. Find it here.

Carmen’s second birthday, Berlin, 1991. Images are taken from Eden and After by Nan Goldin. Images courtesy Nan Goldin/Phaidon Press Inc.

Isabella and Guido’s game, the statue, Sardinia, 2003. Images are taken from Eden and After by Nan Goldin. Images courtesy Nan Goldin/Phaidon Press Inc.

Orlando and Lily dancing, Brooklyn, 2006. Images are taken from Eden and After by Nan Goldin. Images courtesy Nan Goldin/Phaidon Press Inc.

Mia Hugging Georgia, London, 2007. Images are taken from Eden and After by Nan Goldin. Images courtesy Nan Goldin/Phaidon Press Inc.

via The Guardian

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