A Double Life - Nan Goldin

ARMSTRONG, David & Nan GOLDIN.
A Double Life.
First edition. Quarto. 184pp. Burgundy boards with illustrated dust wrapper. Colour and b&w plates throughout. New York: DAP/ Scalo, 1994.
A fine copy. 

A powerful collaboration between Nan Goldin and David Armstrong showing their friends and hangouts in seventies and eighties New York. Many of the same faces appear, the photos being taken whilst Goldin and Armstrong shared an apartment. "Nan Goldin and David Armstrong have been friends ever since 1969. A Double Life chronicles their life together-their friends, their loves, their ups and downs. It’s the portrait of a generation whose hopes and dreams were irrevocably spoilt by drug abuse, the AIDS epidemic, and an increasingly harsh social and political climate. The book is a tribute to love, friendship, and tenderness. It testifies to the strong and nurturing friendships between gay men and straight women. A Double Life contrasts two seemingly entirely different ways of looking at the world-Goldin’s saturated, impassioned color photographs and Armstrong’s poised, perfectly composed black and white pictures. A Double Life allows you to watch the same people and events seen through two different pairs of eyes. But the differences in approach and technique gradually loose their import the longer you look at the book. Armstrong’s and Goldin’s common visions and values become evident-a dedication to love, friendship, and community, a deep respect for human beings and their fragility, an ardent commitment to art as a celebration of life.”