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Nan Goldin: the Other Side – Photography and Gender Identity by Thomas Skodbo Hovedfagsoppgave in Art History IFIKK, University of Oslo, Norway Spring 2007

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Nan Goldin: the Other Side – Photography and Gender Identity by Thomas Skodbo Hovedfagsoppgave in Art History IFIKK, University of Oslo, Norway Spring 2007 View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives Nan Goldin: The Other Side – photography and gender identity By Thomas Skodbo Hovedfagsoppgave in art history IFIKK, University of Oslo, Norway Spring 2007 Preface. The subject of this dissertation is photography and gender identity. The reason why I chose the topic of identity is that it has always fascinated me. It is an immensely diverse subject where scholars from many fields have made important contributions. I had first hand experience with it and the problems that may follow when I worked as a doctor in general practice and in psychiatric wards. I also had the chance to meet more people with alternative gender identities when I studied sexology at Høgskolen i Agder. Some of the people I have met were quite happy and well adjusted, while others suffered. Somehow I wanted to alleviate that suffering, which was often caused by the ignorance and hostility of the rest of society. I still do, as will probably be evident throughout this dissertation. It seems to me that photography is well suited to tell the story of outsiders. It has a close link to reality, and thus to truthfulness. At the same time it is ubiquitous and greatly influences on us all. I want to thank my supervisor at IFIKK, Øivind Storm Bjerke, for valuable advice, my teachers at Høgkolen i Agder for inspiration, and all the transgender people I have met for broadening my mind. Oslo, April 2007. 1 Contents Preface................................................................................................................................ 1 1. INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................. 3 1.1 Author’s intention. ....................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Thesis. .......................................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Delineation of the dissertation’s subject matter. .......................................................... 4 1.4 Sources. ........................................................................................................................ 4 1.5 Method. ........................................................................................................................ 5 1.6 Theoretical and artistic contributors............................................................................. 5 1.6.1 Feminism, psychoanalysis, Foucauldian critique and their relation to gender identity................................................................................................................................ 5 1.6.2 Documentary photography and the depiction of “the Other”.................................... 6 1.7 Presentation of the subject of study.............................................................................. 7 1.8 Presentation of the artist............................................................................................... 8 2. EXPOSITION. ................................................................................................................. 11 2.1 Conceptual considerations.......................................................................................... 11 2.2 Gender systems, feminism and transgender identity.................................................. 19 2.3 Psychoanalysis and transgender identity.................................................................... 29 2.4 Queer theory and transgender identity. ...................................................................... 37 2.5 Comparing photographs. ............................................................................................ 46 2.6 Narrative and fetishistic photography. ....................................................................... 52 2.7 Documentary photography and construction of the Other. ........................................ 55 2.8 The Real. .................................................................................................................... 61 2.9 Asian gender diversity................................................................................................ 69 2.10 Truth and authority................................................................................................... 71 3. CONCLUSION. ............................................................................................................... 79 4. BIBLIOGRAPHY. ........................................................................................................... 88 5. PICTURES. ...................................................................................................................... 91 2 1. INTRODUCTION. 1.1 Author’s intention. Nan Goldin states in the introduction to the photo-book The Other Side that her sole purpose with the pictures is to pay homage to her transgender friends and to show everyone how beautiful they are1. She insists that we should accept these people on their own terms without judging them on the basis of our mental preconceptions as to what gender should and should not be. In my dissertation I employ many such mental preconceptions. They are part of my theoretical framework. Nonetheless I do subscribe to Goldin’s hope that these people be accepted as they are, regardless of prevailing discourse or theory. It is my intention to show that neither discourse nor theory offers any plausible arguments against a tolerant attitude towards gender variety. This may seem like a bold and perhaps questionable statement, but I do hope that my reasons for making it will become clear in the course of this dissertation. My ideological stance as someone who wishes to better the situation for people of unconventional gender identity will be evident throughout. My dissertation thus has an ideological basis – and bias. It is this basis that is the reason why I chose this topic in the first place. It influences my selection of image material and all of my deliberations. I realise that someone with a different view might have made quite different choices and arrived at other conclusions. I have no problems with that, seeing that my dissertation is meant as a personal reflection on a photographical work guided by a subjective ideological stance. It is not meant to offer any authoritative or “scientific” truths. My interpretative and theoretical deliberations are more in the vein of speculation. While I fully appreciate the right of other people to indulge in speculations of their own, it is my hope that my writings may inspire readers to reflect on and question the convoluted concepts of gender and gender identity. Discarding unwarranted preconceptions of gender may at first feel like losing one’s footing – an unpleasant sensation. But I do believe that when it is regained the world will feel like a more diverse and interesting place to live in. 1 My edition is Goldin, Nan: The Other Side, Scalo 1993/2000. (First published in 1992.) 3 1.2 Thesis. One main purpose of this dissertation is to investigate whether or not the photographs of Nan Goldin in the photo-book The Other Side correlate to the gender discourse from 1970 to the early 1990s. Do the pictures in the book illustrate changes in the conception of gender identity during that time period? Another main purpose is to discuss more explicitly photography’s relationship to gender identity formation. Can photography aid in the creation and affirming of identity positions? If so, in what way can it do it? Can photography be detrimental to identity positions, and if so, how? These are the main questions that I will posit in this paper, and that I hopefully will be able to suggest answers to. 1.3 Delineation of the dissertation’s subject matter. My analysis will concentrate on pictorial and contextual elements that pertain to gender issues. It would be possible to discuss Goldin with a different focus – such as for instance family photography or snapshot photography – but since that has not been my main interest here those venues will mainly be touched upon only as they relate to issues of gender identity. I have not analysed all the photographs in the book. I have made a selection, based on the photos’ ability to illustrate major points in my discussion. This means that many pictures, and sometimes even whole sections, have been left out. The reasons for my selecting each picture will hopefully become evident as I discuss them in the exposition (chapter 2). The selected pictures are all reproduced at the back of this dissertation (chapter 5). 1.4 Sources. My primary source is Nan Goldin’s photo-book The Other Side. I have also used some of her other photo-books and exposition catalogues. I have used material from other photographic artists when appropriate, such as pictures by Jacob Riis, Weegee, Robert Frank, Larry Clark, Christer Strömholm and Mary Ellen Mark. 4 Literature on photography is part of my contextual and theoretical framework, as are writings on feminist, psychoanalytical, philosophical and linguistic topics2. 1.5 Method. I make a formal and iconographic analysis of the selected pictures. I make a contextual analysis on the basis of my theoretical premises. In both the formal, the iconographic and the contextual analysis I try to show how Goldin’s photos may illustrate contemporary gender theory and -issues. I make a comparative analysis of the 1970s pictures versus the post
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