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.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the emotional distance created by loss, despite the effort to capture memories through photography.
Nan Goldin's quote reveals a deep introspection about the nature of loss and memory. Although she believed that capturing someone's image through photography could preserve their essence and prevent loss, the act of viewing these photographs ultimately serves as a poignant reminder of what she has lost. This paradox highlights how memories and visual representations can evoke both comfort and sorrow, illustrating the complex interplay between love, memory, and grief in human relationships.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of capturing memories, this quote illustrates the bittersweet nature of remembrance.
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.
A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea. For millions of years, human beings have been part of one tribe or another. A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.
Different taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections.
Are you learning me by heart, little Sara?" he said, stroking her hair. "No," she answered. "I know you by heart. You are inside my heart.
If you age with somebody, you go through so many roles - you're lovers, friends, enemies, colleagues, strangers; you're brother and sister. That's what intimacy is, if you're with your soulmate.
Feeling we have to be constantly updated about the lives of our friends and that everything we say has to be out there leads to frustration, anger and jealousy much more than it leads to anything else.
And I said to myself that he was the first thing that I had ever missed in my life.
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