Golding and Moriyama

Learning about Nan Goldin and Diado Moriyama opened up my scope of vision, aiding me in the development of my theories and practices, not only as an SMP student, but as a photographer in general. This semester I am working on figuring out the difference between the narrative and the documentary photograph, trying different styles of shooting, various cameras, and attempting to produce styles of interaction with the lens about which I had not previously thought. Goldin and Moriyama offer advice and perspective on the practice of documentation photography and the emotion it may contain.
Having read this summer about Goldin and viewing several of her images, it was nice to hear the stories behind her subjects and the relationship she has with them. By hearing these stories, I am also reassured that you can find these meanings and relationships with the subjects without being Goldin and/or without prior knowledge of each characters’ life. For example, I had seen the series about Cookie in the past and felt an attachment or emotion to the images. Now having seen it, I have only gained more of an understanding and connection to these images, a connection that had already existed, yet was reinforced by Goldin’s words. I also thoroughly appreciated learning of the artist’s struggle. Having prior knowledge of her style of living and reasons for leaving her home at such a young age, it was good to hear the details of her recovery in rehab and her style of self-rehabilitation and therapy. This adds further advice to the use of photography as a form of recovery and healing of old wounds. Goldin’s fifteen minutes show great detail of how to interact with emotion in a way of preserving, remembering and documenting the daily actions of all styling of people.
Moriyama presented a different style of documentary photography, a style that I have shown interest in, yet am never able to accomplish. Often, while walking in public, we see people that inspire us, for their beauty, their actions, attitudes, and emotions. I have tried taking photos in the past and often get caught, faced with reactions of stares, glares, and nervous movements. This has steered me away from the act of shooting inspiring strangers. Moriyama does just this, walking from corner to corner, bar to bar, for whole nights to catch the beauty. He works with the idea that they might not even be “photos”, but still mean something to him. The greatest advice from this is that if you carry a simple camera it keeps people from resisting the image. This is something I look forward to doing in the future, in hopes of experiencing the possibility of successful shoots.
To conclude, these two short films introduced two very different perspectives on the style of documentary photography. It is no longer just a way to see outsiders but a way to express our own inside thoughts and the inspiring moments we wish we could hold onto.