Aperture 239: Ballads

Few works have impacted the world of photography like Nan Goldin’s The Ballad of Sexual Dependency. Published by Aperture in 1986, The Ballad retains an uncommon power with its unflinching portrayal of friends, lovers, and relationships—a dramatic opera of joy and despair. This summer, Aperture magazine returns to an iconic work with “Ballads,” a special issue featuring an exclusive interview with Goldin as well as a section curated by the artist dedicated to her influences. 

FRONTAgenda: Exhibitions to See Marion Palfi, Trevor Paglen, Photo / Brut, Working Together 

 

Redux Brian Wallis on Leonard Freed and the New York police 

 

Day Jobs Nicole Acheampong on Ming Smith as a beauty model 

 

Viewfinder Eva Díaz on women’s hands and the labor of editing 

 

BACK Object Lessons David Wojnarowicz’s One Day This Kid, 1990 

 

WORDS The Ballad of Nan Goldin The legendary photographer reflects on art, addiction, and activism A Conversation with Darryl Pinckney 

 

The Original Ballad The making of a groundbreaking photobook Marvin Heiferman in Conversation with Elle Pérez 

 

Speeding Along the Edge Jack Pierson, Mark Morrisroe, and the search for a queer utopia by Evan Moffitt 

 

The Evocative Years Libuše Jarcovjáková’s vivid chronicle of Prague’s subcultures by Alistair O’Neill 

 

A Fold in Time David Wojnarowicz and the radical archives of the Fales Library  by Olivia Laing 

 

Out of Sheer Rage  How can art and film become forms of protest? by Lauren O’Neill-Butler 

 

A World Without Men The Japanese photographers who dared to be “girly” by Moeko Fujii 

 

Film Studies Nan Goldin’s imprint on cinema and television by Rebecca Bengal 

 

Surface Tension In fashion images, a quest for the truth by Lou Stoppard 

 

PICTURES Feast for My Eyes A pantheon of influences by Nan Goldin  

 

Pablo Bartholomew Introduction by Skye Arundhati Thomas 

 

Sunny Suits Introduction by Jesse Dorris 

 

Daragh Soden Introduction by Colin Barrett 

 

Liz Johnson Artur Introduction by Kareem Reid 

 

Abdul Kircher Introduction by Lovia Gyarkye 

 

Clifford Prince King Introduction by Marjon Carlos 

 

223 Introduction by Xuan Juliana Wang

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