Nan Goldin
[Photographer, b. 1953, Washington, D.C., lives in New York and Paris.]
[The snapshot is] the form of photography that is most defined by love. People take them out of love, and they take them to remember—people, places, and times. They’re about creating a history by recording a history.

If I want to take a picture, I take it no matter what.

I used to think I couldn’t lose anyone if I photographed them enough.

Every time I go through something scary, traumatic, I survive by taking pictures.

I don’t even like photography at all. I’m just doing photography until I can do something better.

There is a popular notion that the photographer is by nature a voyeur, the last one to be invited to the party. But I’m not crashing; this is my party. This is my family, my friends.

The camera is as much a part of my everyday life as talking or eating or sex.

Where is the line between life and photographing life?
