Gagosian, Davies Street, 27/02/2026

This collection of 126 photographs was described by the artist/ photographer, Nan Goldin, as “the diary I let people see”. Nevertheless there was no photography allowed inside – although I enjoyed the exhibition, and in many ways wished I could’ve taken aspects away to continue studying for their candid details – I personally felt the ‘no photos’ rule was an appropriate choice, as the display was very intimate; in various ways.

There were a lot of images depicting sexual intimacy, although, all pictures evoked a sense of connection, and trust, that I instinctively presumed the subjects must have felt for each other, and for Nan Goldin taking the photos.

I felt a clear emotional vulnerability coming from many of the people in the pictures, and some obvious to recall/ explain examples would be – images of people crying, including a photo in which, as everyone looked to be candidly enjoying themselves as a bride dressed in white walks down the aisle with her new husband, crying with happiness.

There were many children featured in photographs throughout the series also, and all children were, in my opinion, portrayed in their innocence and youth. For example; a child smiling as they grab their feet with each hand, in a stretching pose I’ve always referred to as ‘happy baby’. Another image shows a child sleeping in their bed; walls adorned with comic book posters, and the bedspread they sleep in is covered in bright, colourful, sports teams’ logos. A possible father-figure sits beside the child’s bed and seems to contently watch over them.

Going back to Nan Goldin’s words on this series that this is ‘the diary [Goldin] let people see’ – I question what about these photos, or the people in them, the artist felt able to share them with masses of people. I love the photographs themselves – the contrasts of colour in almost every image, the slightly eerie lighting in many of the photos too, and even when that particular dingy lighting wasn’t the main light of the photo, the subjects seemed almost wax-like, as though they are somehow preserved for/ within the photo. To me the photos are all innocent in their subject, even the more lewdly posed ones – they don’t actually appear posed, I suppose that is my summation. They feel special for their candidness and how of a time they seem. It makes me half wish I could experience the collection of people photographed first-hand, to decipher whether their lives were as free spirited as they seem to be depicted throughout the series.