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Aperture 239 – Ballads

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.

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