The big picture: Nan Goldin’s book of love and loss
The Observer • • entertainment
Key Points:
- Nan Goldin's 1978 photograph, part of her seminal series The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, remains impactful decades later, capturing intimate moments in Boston's underground scene.
- The Ballad, first published as a photobook in 1986 and recently exhibited in full in London, documents the lives of drag queens, sex workers, and artists, portraying candid scenes of sex, drugs, and domestic struggles.
- The series features individuals like Kenny Angelico, who died of AIDS in 1989, highlighting the devastating impact of the epidemic on Goldin's community during the 1970s and 1980s.
- Goldin emphasizes the enduring nature of mourning for her lost friends, describing the work as both a
