THE BALLAD OF SEXUAL DEPENDENCY

Published by: Aperture, New York, 2021
Hardcover, 160 pages
26 × 23.5 cm
Language: English
Condition: Brand New. Completely clean, tight, and pristine; no visible wear.

The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, first published in 1986, stands as Nan Goldin’s groundbreaking visual diary an intimate, unfiltered record of the search for love, belonging, and vulnerability within her closest circle. Goldin documents the intensity of relationships, desire, addiction, tenderness, and the fragile architecture of human connection, photographing what she described as her “tribe.”

These images capture a visceral and electric way of living, a world charged with raw appetite and emotional candor. The book quickly became an emblem of a generation whose emotional and cultural peak unfolded in the early 1980s. Decades later, Goldin’s saturated color palette and candid approach remain profoundly influential, demanding that viewers confront the full emotional impact of each photograph.

As Goldin writes: “Real memory, which these pictures trigger, is an invocation of the color, smell, sound and physical presence, the density and flavor of life.”
This monograph records both an intensely personal odyssey and a universal narrative of the different languages spoken between men and women.

This anniversary edition features new image separations produced with state of the art technology, offering the most immersive presentation to date of this essential and era defining photobook.