Woman on the Train
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Cookie at Vittorio’s casket NYC, September 16, 1989, Nan Goldin
I was a train from Penn Station to New Brunswick, NJ a couple months back, and the woman sitting across the aisle from us got a phone call that brought word of a friends death. She was instantly overcome with grief. My instinct was to take a picture. I got out my camera, but Britt, my red-headed compatriot, was totally mortified. She asked me what I was doing with enough indignation in her voice for me to know that it wasn’t a question. I know it’s exploitive. And I obviously felt huge amounts of sadness for this person. But if Britt hadn’t been there, there’s a pretty good chance I would have taken it. Is that fucked up?
April 14th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
I think it’s great. Death photography is fascinating. My grandmother had as a hobby photographing bodies at funerals. She did so for over 60 years and so we have this fascinating record of every family member or friend of the family to die from the time my grandmother was around 25 to 90ish. I think all funerals should be photographed and all bodies be photo’d… so I don’t think this is exploitive at all!
April 16th, 2008 at 3:16 am
Interesting. I think it would be okay if you took it and she didn’t notice. That’s why the golden age street photographers were big on cameras that were quiet. But to just get in her face like a paparazzo would be ridiculous. Sometimes honor is worth more than a picture, even if it’s a really good picture.
April 16th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Also, we didn’t even know the circumstances of the death call. Of course, no death is less worse than another, but it could have been her husband, her only brother, or her child. And it seemed like your impulse to take the picture, which granted could’ve been great, came before your evaluation of the sum, you know?
And remember how mad you got at me when I was taking pictures of you hack-coughing in your apartment a few months ago in the midst of your bronchitis?
I’m not trying to hate on your blog!, but I’m just curious, do you now wish that you took it?