This installation view shows photographic works by the Japanese artist Nobuyoshi Araki. Nine smaller formats in rows of three hang on the left wall, consisting of black and white photographs of frivolous Japanese girls in school uniforms. To the right is a large-format black-and-white photograph of a tied up woman with her upper body exposed. On the right wall is again a large-format black-and-white photograph of a young woman whose head and neck peek out of a bedspread. Next to it hang color photographs of partial views of naked women, whose intimate parts have been scratched away with a sharp object.

Sammlung Goetz

Nobuyoshi Araki – Diane Arbus – Nan Goldin

March 23 – September 25, 1997

"A photograph is the secret of a secret. The more they communicate, the less one knows." (Diane Arbus)

With the exhibition Nobuyoshi Araki – Diane Arbus – Nan Goldin, Sammlung Goetz presents three photographers from three generations and cultural worlds. Regardless of societal taboos, they show life as it actually is. Despite their unsparing gaze, the subjects of their photographs maintain their dignity. These photos reveal intimate, touching moments of human interaction.

Diane Arbus is the oldest artist whose works are included in the show. She became known for her black and white portraits from those on the edges of society: the mentally disabled, the poor, prostitutes and transvestites. Nobuyoshi Araki is one of the most renowned Japanese photographers. His nude photos of schoolgirls and artistically bound models triggered great discussion about the boundaries between pornography and art. In her photographs, Nan Goldin takes up subjects like violence, sexuality and death. She uses her camera to accompany people who belong to her circle of friends often for years at a time, almost like a diary.