“I Never Want to Avoid Pain”: The Hurt Body and the Construction of Pain in Nan Goldin’s Photography

Abstract

In this article I will analyse the ways in which American photographer Nan Goldin deals with the representation of pain in her work. Using an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, I will dissect some of her photographs to illustrate how the visual rendering of hurt bodies can be used to reveal the constructed nature of pain: how pain is sublimated by means of aesthetics and narration, and how Goldin can be identified as both asuffering individual and a watcher of other people’s pain.

Keywords

• nan goldin
• photography
• pain
• violence