Nan Goldin

Nan Goldin is an American photographer and activist, born on September 12, 1953, in Washington, D.C. She is known for her work that explores LGBT subcultures, moments of intimacy, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the opioid epidemic. Her most notable work is The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (1986), which documents the post-Stonewall, gay subculture including her family and friends. Goldin is a founding member of the advocacy group P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) and currently resides and works in New York City. Goldin grew up in the Boston suburb of Swampscott and later moved to Lexington. She had early exposure to tense family relationships, sexuality, and suicide, as her parents often argued about her older sister Barbara, who tragically died by suicide when Goldin was 11.