148 pages. Texts in French, illustrated with 128 full-page color photographic reproductions by Nan Goldin.
"The Ballad of Sexual Addiction is a photographic diary chronicling the struggles inherent in romantic relationships and the misunderstandings between friends, family, and lovers whom Nan Goldin considers her "tribe." Her work describes a visceral, vital, and vibrant world. This reissue of this book, first published in 1986, pays homage to the ongoing relevance and spontaneity of Nan Goldin's incisive photography. Her photographs, rich in color and straightforward in style, demand that the viewer look beyond their appearance to discover their depth and intensity. As Nan Goldin writes, "The real memories these photographs evoke are invocations of color, smell, sound, physicality, the density and taste of life." Through a faithful and precise account of her life, The Ballad not only reveals the photographer's personal odyssey, but also provides a universal understanding of the language of men and women. women and the struggle between freedom and dependency. Over the past twenty years, The Ballad has continued to influence photography and art in general, making it a contemporary classic. Nan Goldin's tale of urban, marginal life was the swan song of an era that reached its peak in the early 1980s. Yet it captures a fundamental and transcendent element in man: his need to unite."